“The Shelburne Pond Home sits on a knoll with westerly views of the pond. A covered porch and west facing patio make the most of these views. The wooded site creates a private oasis for this four-bedroom home. Wood tones are echoed in the [shou sugi ban] siding in contrasting colors. Designed for the grandparents with four children and twelve grandchildren, the house provides the first-floor living for its occupants with additional living space on the lower level and second floor for visiting children and grandchildren. Other spaces include a home office above a two-car garage, a playroom and a fitness room.”

This custom home’s goal was to create a beautiful and functional alpine retreat. A place for family and friends to gather. A warm, welcoming feeling that connected to nature was prioritized. Outside, there are arched timber trusses and stone accents. The home’s angles and extensive picture windows take advantage of panoramic three-story views. Front entry has vaulted ceiling and posts with rock bases. Full height rear chimney creates an imposing profile from the road below. Structural timbers and glulams lean into the decorative timber trusses, highlighting the rustic chalet inspiration.

DURING Photo #3 - This Mount Prospect, IL Colonial Style Home was remodeled by Siding & Windows Group. We replaced existing Aluminum Siding and installed James HardiePlank Select Cedarmill Lap Siding in ColorPlus Technology Color Sail Cloth and Traditional HardieTrim, HardieSoffit & Fascia in ColorPlus Technology Color Arctic White. Remodeled the entire second floor Balcony with New Cedar Railing Systems, First Floor Column Posts with Roof removed and installed new modified Bitumen Roofing. Replaced Windows throughout Home with Premium Quality Marvin Ultimate Clad Windows and installed Fypon Shutters in White with Hardie Crown Moldings. Replaced Gutters/Downspouts with Alside Gutters and installed GutterDome Screens.

Black vinyl board and batten style siding was installed around the entire exterior, accented with cedar wood tones on the garage door, dormer window, and the posts on the front porch. The dark, modern look was continued with the use of black soffit, fascia, windows, and stone.

Perched high above the Islington Golf course, on a quiet cul-de-sac, this contemporary residential home is all about bringing the outdoor surroundings in. In keeping with the French style, a metal and slate mansard roofline dominates the façade, while inside, an open concept main floor split across three elevations, is punctuated by reclaimed rough hewn fir beams and a herringbone dark walnut floor. The elegant kitchen includes Calacatta marble countertops, Wolf range, SubZero glass paned refrigerator, open walnut shelving, blue/black cabinetry with hand forged bronze hardware and a larder with a SubZero freezer, wine fridge and even a dog bed. The emphasis on wood detailing continues with Pella fir windows framing a full view of the canopy of trees that hang over the golf course and back of the house. This project included a full reimagining of the backyard landscaping and features the use of Thermory decking and a refurbished in-ground pool surrounded by dark Eramosa limestone. Design elements include the use of three species of wood, warm metals, various marbles, bespoke lighting fixtures and Canadian art as a focal point within each space. The main walnut waterfall staircase features a custom hand forged metal railing with tuning fork spindles. The end result is a nod to the elegance of French Country, mixed with the modern day requirements of a family of four and two dogs!

Inspiration for a mid-sized modern white one-story stucco flat roof remodel in San Francisco with a shingle roof

Teak Veneered Tetraleaf™
Beach style hallway photo in Los Angeles

This side of the home was resided with James Hardie Cobble Stone Shingle siding. These shingles resemble traditional cedar wood shingles, but are made of fiber cement

Trendy gray two-story mixed siding gable roof photo in Austin with a shingle roof

This Ohana model ATU tiny home is contemporary and sleek, cladded in cedar and metal. The slanted roof and clean straight lines keep this 8x28' tiny home on wheels looking sharp in any location, even enveloped in jungle. Cedar wood siding and metal are the perfect protectant to the elements, which is great because this Ohana model in rainy Pune, Hawaii and also right on the ocean. A natural mix of wood tones with dark greens and metals keep the theme grounded with an earthiness. Theres a sliding glass door and also another glass entry door across from it, opening up the center of this otherwise long and narrow runway. The living space is fully equipped with entertainment and comfortable seating with plenty of storage built into the seating. The window nook/ bump-out is also wall-mounted ladder access to the second loft. The stairs up to the main sleeping loft double as a bookshelf and seamlessly integrate into the very custom kitchen cabinets that house appliances, pull-out pantry, closet space, and drawers (including toe-kick drawers). A granite countertop slab extends thicker than usual down the front edge and also up the wall and seamlessly cases the windowsill. The bathroom is clean and polished but not without color! A floating vanity and a floating toilet keep the floor feeling open and created a very easy space to clean! The shower had a glass partition with one side left open- a walk-in shower in a tiny home. The floor is tiled in slate and there are engineered hardwood flooring throughout.

Our client came to us with the objective of building an outdoor living space for his family to always come back to instead of going on separate vacations. They needed a space that felt like a retreat from the world. A space for relaxing and spending quality family time together without the day-to-day distractions. Our team provided a rustic, industrial looking outdoor entertaining area with sports watching as the main goal to provide years of family fun through the seasons! Our biggest challenge on this project was to design and build a beautiful, custom triangular floor to ceiling outdoor fireplace that was the centerpiece of this project. The entire project included building a porch roof over a flagstone patio. All surfaces were clad in cedar with built in bluetooth speakers, ceiling fan, recessed lighting, and a gas heater. We also built an outdoor kitchen with bar height table top and gas grill. The floor to ceiling stone fireplace in the corner of the patio included a custom mantle and mounted TV.

View of the monumental exterior stair leading to the southeastern porch - photo: Ben Benschneider
Trendy exterior home photo in Seattle

Built in 1949, this Edina home had a strong horizontal presence on the site, but through subsequent renovations the overall massing was lacking clarity and refinement and the entry was diminutive and uninviting. The roof and siding materials were aging, and important interior spaces were cramped and closed in. The house needed better light, better connection internally and out, and exterior updates to clarify and enhance the strengths of the home. The primary design evolved out of a celebration of the existing horizontality of the home and a recognition that a bigger home was not needed. By layering materiality and color, a new identity was created. A new cedar entry canopy slips out from under the previous roof line, extending further towards the street. This added warmth at the entry is echoed along the facade, creating a graceful rhythm and texture. The previous additions were re-clad with a darker material palette in order to anchor and unify the ends of the home. As the grade slopes down towards the back yard, horizontal bands are exposed, revealing the layering top to bottom. Combined, these few shifts in color and materiality allowed for a complete transformation of the home. The interior is reflective of the material and color palette used outside. The main living spaces are opened up and connected while strengthening the original symmetry of the more formal linear alignment of rooms. A whole new kitchen relocates the center of the home and makes more fluid the daily life of this young family. The house is fully transformed inside and out, all without adding more square feet. Project Team: Ben Awes, AIA, Principal-in-Charge Nate Dodge

Designed in parallel to the Peconic House project, we were asked to create a guest house for the client, so that family had a home base during construction of the main house. Inspired by an actual barn structure the family had visited in Connecticut, this faux historic creation would be aesthetically counterpoint the modern, beach-inspired main house structure. As a matter of standard practice, we also set out to insure this would be a highly sustainable home in its own right. The white oak, heavy timber structural components were completely milled and pre-fit offsite before being trucked to the site and assembled by a team of Vermont-based barn-builders in a matter of days. All structural assemblies and fasteners were made from custom-milled, solid wood elements assembled in the same manner it was done centuries ago. Reclaimed barn wood interior walls conceal high-tech super-insulated SIPs wall panels, clad on the outside by unfinished white cedar shingles which will naturally patina in the salted air of the Hamptons. Successfully completed within the prescribed timeframe, the client’s family was able to spend an entire year in the Peconic Barn while the main house was under construction.

In this design we sought to blur the boundaries between inside and outside. The use of glass and solid forms cladded in carefully selected textures and tones complete the look. The house is carefully crafted around an existing pool and cedar tree. We added a lily pond along with drought tolerant landscaping to connect one with nature. Much attention was paid to the orientation of the spaces inside the house with respect to sun’s movement and its impact on different times of the day. This project was recognized by AIA SFV for Design Excellence 2017.

This Ohana model ATU tiny home is contemporary and sleek, cladded in cedar and metal. The slanted roof and clean straight lines keep this 8x28' tiny home on wheels looking sharp in any location, even enveloped in jungle. Cedar wood siding and metal are the perfect protectant to the elements, which is great because this Ohana model in rainy Pune, Hawaii and also right on the ocean. A natural mix of wood tones with dark greens and metals keep the theme grounded with an earthiness. Theres a sliding glass door and also another glass entry door across from it, opening up the center of this otherwise long and narrow runway. The living space is fully equipped with entertainment and comfortable seating with plenty of storage built into the seating. The window nook/ bump-out is also wall-mounted ladder access to the second loft. The stairs up to the main sleeping loft double as a bookshelf and seamlessly integrate into the very custom kitchen cabinets that house appliances, pull-out pantry, closet space, and drawers (including toe-kick drawers). A granite countertop slab extends thicker than usual down the front edge and also up the wall and seamlessly cases the windowsill. The bathroom is clean and polished but not without color! A floating vanity and a floating toilet keep the floor feeling open and created a very easy space to clean! The shower had a glass partition with one side left open- a walk-in shower in a tiny home. The floor is tiled in slate and there are engineered hardwood flooring throughout.

At our first meeting, my clients’ insisted that whenever possible, the materials selected be renewable, Earth friendly and ideally, locally sourced. But to get to that end, they did not want to sacrifice a beautiful, cohesive design. For flooring, we selected a Teragren strand bamboo that set the tone for the entire space. The soaring ceilings and beams in the main living space were clad entirely in FSC certified VG fir. No or low VOC paint was used throughout the home and the majority of the tile is porcelain with a minimum recycled content of 80%. The custom LED lighting fixtures were created by an artisan in Oregon and truly capture the style and scale of the home. Photos courtesy of Harrison Homes www.harrhomes.com

This Mount Prospect, IL Colonial Style Home was remodeled by Siding & Windows Group. We replaced existing Aluminum Siding and installed James HardiePlank Select Cedarmill Lap Siding in ColorPlus Technology Color Sail Cloth and Traditional HardieTrim, HardieSoffit & Fascia in ColorPlus Technology Color Arctic White. Remodeled the entire second floor Balcony with New Cedar Railing Systems, First Floor Column Posts with Roof removed and installed new modified Bitumen Roofing. Replaced Windows throughout Home with Premium Quality Marvin Ultimate Clad Windows and installed Fypon Shutters in White with Hardie Crown Moldings. Replaced Gutters/Downspouts with Alside Gutters and installed GutterDome Screens.

Designed in parallel to the Peconic House project, we were asked to create a guest house for the client, so that family had a home base during construction of the main house. Inspired by an actual barn structure the family had visited in Connecticut, this faux historic creation would be aesthetically counterpoint the modern, beach-inspired main house structure. As a matter of standard practice, we also set out to insure this would be a highly sustainable home in its own right. The white oak, heavy timber structural components were completely milled and pre-fit offsite before being trucked to the site and assembled by a team of Vermont-based barn-builders in a matter of days. All structural assemblies and fasteners were made from custom-milled, solid wood elements assembled in the same manner it was done centuries ago. Reclaimed barn wood interior walls conceal high-tech super-insulated SIPs wall panels, clad on the outside by unfinished white cedar shingles which will naturally patina in the salted air of the Hamptons. Successfully completed within the prescribed timeframe, the client’s family was able to spend an entire year in the Peconic Barn while the main house was under construction.