North Shore Estate in Manchester, Massachusetts
TMS Architects in Portsmouth
(603) 436-4274
tmsarchitects.com
Project Architects: Rob Carty, AIA, principal architect; Kraig Kurtenbach, AIA, project manager
Photography by Michael Rixon Photography
The original house on this estate was built in 1892 and is situated on a magnificent piece of property that is surrounded by water on three sides. An extension was added to the house in the 1920s, which contained a kitchen and staff quarters that were never intended for the family’s use and were not designed to take advantage of the ocean views. Ironically, the homeowners found themselves spending a great deal of time in this addition and wanted to open up the small, dark spaces and increase opportunities for outdoor living while maintaining the original character of the main house.
The architect reconfigured the interior spaces, added multiple outdoor terraces and created a secondary entrance for the family to access the more casual living spaces. Previously, there was an awkward transition to the new wing from the main house, and this connection was opened significantly and designed to be in keeping with the character of the main house.
North Shore Estate in Manchester, Massachusetts
TMS Architects in Portsmouth
(603) 436-4274
tmsarchitects.com
Project Architects: Rob Carty, AIA, principal architect; Kraig Kurtenbach, AIA, project manager
Photography by Michael Rixon Photography
The original house on this estate was built in 1892 and is situated on a magnificent piece of property that is surrounded by water on three sides. An extension was added to the house in the 1920s, which contained a kitchen and staff quarters that were never intended for the family’s use and were not designed to take advantage of the ocean views. Ironically, the homeowners found themselves spending a great deal of time in this addition and wanted to open up the small, dark spaces and increase opportunities for outdoor living while maintaining the original character of the main house.
The architect reconfigured the interior spaces, added multiple outdoor terraces and created a secondary entrance for the family to access the more casual living spaces. Previously, there was an awkward transition to the new wing from the main house, and this connection was opened significantly and designed to be in keeping with the character of the main house.
The Landing Lake House, Newbury
Bonin Architects & Associates, PLLC in New London
526-6200
boninarchitects.com
Architect: Jeremy Bonin, AIA, LEED AP
Photography by W.N. Fish Photography
This home maximizes allowable living space for activities of all seasons. The exterior complements the surrounding architecture in Blodgett Landing in Newbury, with a clean contemporary interior. The open stair is a focal point, greeting visitors and allowing comfortable travel from floor to floor. With young children and active lifestyles, the homeowners sought easy lake access, ample storage, low maintenance, and private and common areas with lake views.
Sunlight Point
Christopher P. Williams Architects, PLLC in Meredith
279-6513
cpwarchitects.com
Architectural Design: Chris Williams, AIA, principal architect; Elizabeth Steele Venus, project designer
Photography by John W. Hession Advanced Digital Photography
The project was an extensive remodel and addition to an existing house located on a narrow point of land on a lake in New Hampshire. The site constraints were challenging, and took some finesse to fit a building containing 5,330 square feet of livable space and an attached two-car garage. To take advantage of the views, a large amount of glass was used to capture the nearly 330-degree panorama.
The clients were looking for a home with a high level of energy efficiency and all of the modern amenities. The kitchen is well-appointed with culinary equipment along with a pass-through window to the sunroom. The clients used a wood carver to create the mantles of both fireplaces. The five-piece bath connected to the master bedroom has a steam shower and an air massage tub.
The building was designed to look smaller than it actually is, and to blend in to its surroundings as much as possible, while taking advantage of its exceptional location.
Stonlea in Dublin
H3 Collaborative Architects in New York, New York, and Daniel V. Scully/Architects in Keene
(603) 357-4544
scully-architects.com
Architect: H3 Collaborative Architects
Architect of Record: Daniel V. Scully, AIA; Katie Sutherland, AIA; Curtis Taylor; Andrew Weglinski
Photography by Peter W. Clement
Today, Stonlea is the renovated confluence of historic preservation and net-zero energy of an 1891 Peabody & Stearns cottage. The house stretches out along a hillside directly facing Dublin Lake and Mount Monadnock in Dublin.
The project goals were to modernize the compound to be “Grandmother’s Gathering Place,” a family retreat. The house had been renovated at least three or four times since 1898. This project was another iteration, adding a garage and mechanical room, and bringing out the essence of the house while accommodating the modern program. The house is as energy efficient as reasonably possible, including geothermal wells, heat pumps and solar hot water. The building also produces 100 percent of its required electricity with photovoltaics. A new kitchen, bathrooms, and a modest swimming pool and spa have been added within the original structure. Other alterations include vastly improved lighting/heating systems and a screened area under the balcony.
The Potting Shed in Dover
Fiorentino Group Architects in York, Maine
(207) 351-1166
fiorentinogroup.com
Architect: Scott Fiorentino, AIA
Photography by Joseph St. Pierre
Nestled between a fifty-foot conservation boundary and the main residence, this 1,170 square foot potting shed/workshop provides amenities for the homeowners who enjoy gardening and working outdoors. The structure was designed to complement the existing house yet have its own unique character and use on the property.
The design takes advantage of views to the stocked trout pond, back yard and adjacent horse farm. The ledge outcropping, along the south side, boasts a beautiful water garden that fits naturally into the topography. Details—such as the cupola, garage canopy, covered wood storage and exposed timber structure in the garage—add aesthetics but are also quite functional for ventilation, protection from water and required fire rating. This modest little structure packs a punch for functionality, aesthetics and comfort!
ThinkHouse in Jaffrey
Eric Thompson Design in Columbus, Ohio
(650) 387-4794
ericthompsondesign.com
Architect: Eric Thompson, AIA, principal; Brian Spring, assistant
Photography by Chuck Choi; Nancy Belluscio On-Site Photography
The ThinkHouse is a cabin for writing, studying and reading in the forest on Frost Pond. The project merges the poetic and the practical sides of sustainable or green architecture.
The project concept is to make a place apart from the everyday world, a place for peaceful contemplation. To achieve this feeling within its beautiful natural setting, the structure was raised from the ground and into the trees, creating a unique and transcendent experience of nature.
Raising the building also has a practical, green component—minimizing the disturbance of the site (compared with what a conventional building foundation would require).
Extensive windows, especially on the north side where daylight is glare-free, gives the writer an experience of being in the forest with natural light filtering through the trees. And on the practical side, the study uses less electrical energy for lighting.
Pleasant Lake Residence in New London
Frank Anzalone Associates in New London
(603) 625-4548
faa-arch.com
Architect: Frank Anzalone, AIA
Photography by Frank Anzalone AIA
In the mid 1990s, a family from Maine purchased a three-acre property on Pleasant Lake. The property contained on old cottage the owners used for several years—first as their vacation residence while their neighboring property was being renovated, and then later for visiting guests. As time passed, the owners decided to make New London their home and, in 2007, opted to have a new home designed to replace the old cottage.
The owners—who founded a successful company that provided consulting for wind- and solar-energy systems—wanted to create a sustainable home that would be low maintenance. They tore down the cottage and sent it to be recycled locally. In its place, a comfortable new home was constructed and designed to fit with the site and blend with its environment.
Woodland Retreat in Ogunquit, Maine
CJ Architects in Portsmouth
431-2808
cjarchitects.net
Architect: Carla Goodknight, AIA, principal
Photography by Joseph St. Pierre
Designed to accommodate the owners’ desire to retire to their summer home in Maine, this woodland retreat has been a holiday destination and vacation getaway for many years.
The architect’s challenge was to capture the light from the south as well as the owner’s favorite views of the pond and wooded vistas to the north. Great care was given to placement of the living spaces. Cathedral ceilings, balconies and an open plan combine to best suit the owners’ lifestyle and interact with the surrounding forest.
Great attention was paid to designing the new residence around existing natural vegetation while preserving as many trees as possible. This wooded setting has abundant native landscaping that was shaped and cultivated by the owners over the years. Wood shakes and a stone-clad base blend with the natural elements.
Villa Como Guest House in Dover
Fiorentino Group Architects in York, Maine
(207) 351-1166
fiorentinogroup.com
Architect: Scott Fiorentino, AIA
Photography by Michael Rixon Photography
The guest house is an outbuilding on the Villa Como estate situated on the banks of the Cocheco River and designed as the gateway structure into the property. The simple, rectangular hipped massing uses traditional New England detailing and materials to complement the main residence. The exterior façade is punctuated with window bays, standing seam canopies and planting boxes to soften the straight east and west wall plains. A vaulted roof and arbor-covered stone patios on the south and north façades create inviting public and private entries while offering sitting areas to take in the adjacent gardens and views of the surrounding property.
A large, eyebrow window denotes the front entry and allows natural light within the sloped ceiling of the guest house’s post-and-beam living space. Planting beds, gardens, walking paths, stone walls and stone-infused, looped driveway are extended to the guest house, making visitors feel welcome and visually connected to the main residence.
Nubanusit Lake Housein Hancock
O’Neil Pennoyer Architects in Groton, Massachusetts
(978) 448-5320
oparchitects.com
Design Team: Sheldon Pennoyer, AIA, LEED AP; David O’Neil, AIA; Renee Fair, LEED AP
Photography by Joseph St. Pierre
A 2,948-square-foot house designed as a family retreat at the edge of Nubanusit Lake has brought a local family back home after ten years in Ohio. The waterfront site presented a challenge with a dramatic elevation change of 30 feet from the road to the water in less than 120 feet of distance. The major design accomplishment was to bring the visitor from the street level down one level via an open stair tower and connector to the front door.
The main floor of the house allowed for a consolidated plan of a dining room and living room beyond the kitchen. A strategically located screened porch, adjacent to the living room, provides sheltered outdoor living and access to a terrace overlooking the lake. Sweeping roofs with deep overhangs as well as a series of rock walls and terraced gardens express the idea of connection between the built and natural environments.
Carriage House at Fasnocloigh in Dublin
Daniel V. Scully/Architects in Keene
(603) 357-4544
scully-architects.com
Design Team: Dan Scully, AIA, LEED AP, principal; Katie Sutherland, AIA, LEED AP, project manager; Andrew Weglinski, LEED AP BD+C, and Curtis Taylor, project team
Photography by Nancy Belluscio On-Site Photography
This new six-car garage was built to house an Aston Martin and vintage BMWs at the manor-house Fasnocloigh (FAZ-na-cloy) in Dublin. This turn-of-the-century Elizabethan-Jacobean compound comprises a spacious main house and wings, terraced gardens, and a series of barns and other service-buildings. A covered pass-through leads from the house to the back of the garage.
The new garage represents a transitional structure between a horse stable and the car garage with an exquisitely paneled “tack room” for motor oil and vintage toy cars. Stucco walls connect the compound and create walled courtyards.
Dark Victorian bead-board doors open wide to reveal the horsepower within. Monumental timbers in the house’s great hall are reflected in the garage with a modern joie-de-vivre: its roof is supported by a gutsy, built-up, clear-span, steel truss. An overhead light-monitor lights the cars from above; they are coddled with steady radiant heat from below. For a traditional masonry building, this spills a lot of light on the cars.
Western Craftsman in Wilson, Wyoming
TMS Architects in Portsmouth
436-4274
tmsarchitects.com
Design Team: William Soupcoff, AIA, principal architect; Jason Bailey, AIA, project manager
Photography by David J. Swift
This charming home originated as a Mormon meetinghouse in the 1800s and has since been transformed from a rustic seasonal camp to a sophisticated year-round wilderness retreat. The residence incorporates all the Western character appropriate for a home in the valley of Wyoming’s Teton Mountain range. The homeowners’ passion for downhill skiing and entertaining created a busy itinerary, but the existing camp required a renovation and addition to accommodate their growing family and guest list.
A majority of the interior was gutted to install insulation, new wiring and plumbing. Finishes were either salvaged and restored, such as the stained-glass windows, or updated to complement a more contemporary Arts and Crafts style.
Furniture is placed in each room to satisfy multiple uses in order to make the most of every square foot. With the addition of the master suite above the new two-car garage, the homeowners have privacy when the rest of their home is filled with guests. Their suite is complete with the addition of a private deck overlooking views of the valley and mountains beyond.
Bow Street Residence in Portsmouth
McHenry Architecture PLLC in Portsmouth
(603) 430-0274
mchenryarchitecture.com
Architect: McHenry Architecture PLLC
Photography by John W. Hession Advanced Digital Photography
This project was designed to create a dramatic living space by renovating a portion of an industrial brick building overlooking the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth’s historic district. The design emphasizes the spaciousness of the building and its tall windows by allowing the great room with its fifteen-foot ceilings to remain and anchor the design. A modest entry leads to a curving hallway that opens to a grand space overlooking the river, which in turn leads to the master bedroom and study loft spaces that offer views to the river.
A new rooftop structure was added to provide a guest suite and bar area that adjoins an outdoor deck. A media room, bedroom, bath and storage areas occupy the areas below the loft. The interior is significant for the high level of the millwork—including a coffered ceiling, a grand fireplace and library casework—and the curved staircase, suggestive of the maritime heritage of the region.
Castle Rock Cottage
Christopher P. Williams Architects, PLLC in Meredith
(603) 279-6513
cpwarchitects.com
Architectural Design: Chris Williams, AIA, principal architect; Penelope Marvel, project architect; Philip M. Bennett, AIA, LEED consultant
Photography by John W. Hession Advanced Digital Photography
This new, five-bedroom home replaced an old family “camp” ‘on a lakefront site. The original camp, though it had served the family well, was mold-infested, structurally inadequate and lacked the open spaces this growing family craved. The homeowners requested a new, energy-efficient LEED home be built in the camp’s place; a home that will function as the gathering place for the multigenerational family now and in the future.
Having much sentimental attachment to the original camp, an almost unspoken request was for the new home to evoke the feeling and memories of the original camp. The family wanted this home to feel like it was always theirs. As family comments attest, the home does just that.
This residence achieved a LEED Platinum rating through efficiency in materials; high energy performance; lower water usage; recycled, local and FSC products; and low/no irrigation landscaping that will be left to “naturalize.”
