Stairs

In my house I am almost always the first one up. As I walk down the stairs to get my coffee it is comforting to know that in the mid 1800s the builders did their job well. There are no creaks when I step (except from me) and the rise and run of the stair are quite comfortable.

Friends, family and clients I know aren’t always so lucky, especially if their stairs were built in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Those stairs can be so steep that you have to lean back just to stay vertical and to avoid hitting your head. The owners of period homes who face those stairs each morning generally fall into two categories: ‘Love the charm, wouldn’t change a thing’ or ‘can’t stand another day like this, we need a second set of stairs’. I can understand both points of view.

The creation of a beautiful stair requires an eye for design and the discipline to maintain strict compliance with building codes. There are an infinite number of ways to design a successful stair, but you can find just as many ways to miss the mark.

A beautiful stair can be the showpiece of a home. It can set the tone as visitors enter the front door or be a secret passage the attic or the master bedroom. A stair can also be a constant annoyance or even a hazard. The extra time it takes to make a staircase special is always worth it. Even if it is not grand or expensive a well designed stair is special and may be special for generations.

The Garden and The Home

A beautiful landscape can enhance any architectural project. A talented landscape architect, landscape designer or homeowner with a green thumb makes any project we design more beautiful. That partnership works even better when it begins early in the design process.

Architects spend a lot of time on the placement of a new home or addition in the landscape. Views, sun angle and orientation, prevailing winds, relationships to the approach and internal flow are all part of the mix when designing the spaces. Often part of our design extends into the landscape and includes retaining walls, patios, porches and outbuildings. The landscape designer takes those elements and incorporates them into an overall plan of the entire property. We work as a team to create a wonderful experience which integrates the home and the landscape.

Just as the architect creates spaces inside the home, outdoor ‘rooms’ can be created on the property surrounding a home. These spaces can be private getaways, cutting gardens, meditative retreats, or just a fun place to sit and talk.

In addition to creating interior spaces from which to observe the flora and fauna, we often design garden structures which can be utilitarian, but sometimes they simply punctuate the landscape as part of the grand scheme. A garden folly can be just a sight to behold or a working potting shed or pool house.

Home owners vary in their garden choices as much as they do in their architectural tastes. Whether a garden is formal or free form, natural or completely staged, the object is always to create a wonderful experience which has been integrated with the home.

Parish Hall

Crisp Architects specializes in home design. We design new homes, renovate and add to existing homes, and we restore old homes. In the course of our practice we are frequently asked to design other types of buildings and we happily comply. Those include horse barns, indoor tennis courts, office space, small commercial projects, all kinds of accessory buildings and parish halls.
One of our favorite examples of non residential projects is St Peter's Parish Hall. Working with the committees was a lot of fun and in the end we all were happy with the results.
EXTERIOR



INTERIOR

For this project we won a national American Institute of Architects award for design. The jury felt that our new building fit very comfortably next to the carpenter gothic church built in the nineteenth century.

Before and After

Before and After photos are always a lot of fun. We go out of our way to find the worst before photo and pair it with our favorite after shot. As architects, we are accustomed to imagining the potential of an existing home that needs work. The before and after photographs greatest value to our clients is to show how a room or a whole house can be transformed through thoughtful design and quality construction.
BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

As fun as the photgraphs are, living in the renovated spaces is the most fun.

Pool Houses

Nothing says summer like kids splashing around in a pool--except perhaps an adult party centered around a pool on a balmy summer evening. In either case, a pool house makes everything easier. Whether the pool house is small and simple or includes a full kitchen and guest quarters, having a place to store cold drinks, towels and refreshments makes summer entertaining a lot more fun.

A pool house can be a place to access only the absolute necessities while enjoying the pool, or it can be a destination that allows friends and family to spend the day around the pool and then stay for the night. A well designed pool house can easily double as a guest house for summer and winter use.


In the end, pool houses can be just for fun.

Kitchen Costs

One of the most expensive rooms in a home is the kitchen. It is easy to see why a kitchen is so expensive considering it contains appliances, cabinets, plumbing fixtures, lighting, ventilation, countertops as well as decorative finishes. To try to quantify some of those big ticket items we have compiled the following list of some of the elements that go into kitchens including their installed costs. The prices will vary depending on the supplier, contractor and the market conditions at the time of the bid. These prices were provided by suppliers and contractors in early 2009. Some less expensive brands have more expensive models and vice versa.



For additional prices of materials such as flooring and counter
tops, please review our previous article "How Much".


For a larger view simply double click on the chart or to recieve a pdf of this list, please e-mail a request to: Lois@crisparchitects.com and we will send you a copy as soon as possible.

Screened Porches

Owning a screened porch on a buggy summer evening is like owning a castle with a moat when the barbarians attack. The screened porch provides a place to relax outdoors without having to pay attention to the barbarian bug population.

In general, the screened porches we design are larger than the average open porch. Most often they are designed as outdoor rooms and are furnished with sofas and chairs as well as dining tables and occasionally a fireplace. Screened porches can even be a cool place to sleep on a warm summer night.

New technology has made the screened porch even more attractive by extending the useful season and almost magically allowing us to change an open porch to a screened porch a the push of a button.

One of our clients wanted a large porch for entertaining and dining and to take advantage of the stunning view from that side of the house. The problem was that almost like clockwork at 5:00pm when they were getting ready to greet their guests, swarms of bugs would appear. They also did not want to obstruct their view at times and seasons when the bugs were not present. The solution was an automatic roller screen system which was hidden in the soffit most of the time, but when needed would descend and make the wide open porch into a comfy screened porch.

We have also included radiant heat pipes in the stone floor of some screened porches which allow the owners to comfortably use the porch earlier in the spring and later in the fall. When combined with interchangeable glass panels, the screened porch easily becomes a three or four season room.

These days we have more options than ever when designing the perfect screened porch. Bugs just don’t know what they are up against.