AV Architects + Builders Location: Tysons, VA, USA The Home for Life project was customized around our client’s lifestyle so that he could enjoy the home for many years to come. Designed with empty nesters and baby boomers in mind, our custom design used a different approach to the disparity of square footage on each floor. The main level measures out at 2,300 square feet while the lower and upper levels of the home measure out at 1000 square feet each, respectively. The open floor plan of the main level features a master suite and master bath, personal office, kitchen and dining areas, and a two-car garage that opens to a mudroom and laundry room. The upper level features two generously sized en-suite bedrooms while the lower level features an extra guest room with a full bath and an exercise/rec room. The backyard offers 800 square feet of travertine patio with an elegant outdoor kitchen, while the front entry has a covered 300 square foot porch with custom landscape lighting. The biggest challenge of the project was dealing with the size of the lot, measuring only a ¼ acre. Because the majority of square footage was dedicated to the main floor, we had to make sure that the main rooms had plenty of natural lighting. Our solution was to place the public spaces (Great room and outdoor patio) facing south, and the more private spaces (Bedrooms) facing north. The common misconception with small homes is that they cannot factor in everything the homeowner wants. With our custom design, we created an open concept space that features all the amenities of a luxury lifestyle in a home measuring a total of 4300 square feet. Jim Tetro Architectural Photography

Jeff Herr Photography
Inspiration for a craftsman two-story exterior home remodel in Atlanta

Michael J. Lee

Madrona Passive House, a new Seattle home designed by SHED Architecture & Design and built by Hammer & Hand, combines contemporary design with high performance building to create an environmentally responsive and resource-efficient house. The home’s airtight, super-insulated building envelope and passive design minimize energy consumption while providing superior thermal comfort to occupants. A heat recovery ventilator supplies constant fresh air to the home’s interior while recovering 90% of thermal energy from exhaust air for reuse inside. A rooftop solar photovoltaic array will provide enough energy to offset most, perhaps all, of the home’s energy consumption on a net annual basis. To manage stormwater the project employs permeable pavers for site hardscape and two cisterns to capture and control rainwater from the home’s roof and the green roof on the garage. By investing in sustainable site development strategies, efficient building systems and an advanced envelope, the project aims to respect the home’s environmentally critical site and achieve one of the world’s most demanding building energy standards: Passive House. Photos by Mark Woods Photography.

Kimberly Gavin
Example of a trendy living room design in Denver with a standard fireplace

At the front of home brick is preserved and added second story it push toward back of the structure to preserves the neighborhood scale of ranchers & cape cods. Clear story windows at top run the full length of the upstairs hall. Jeffrey Tryon - Photographer / PDC

Michael Moran
Large trendy white three-story stucco flat roof photo in DC Metro

Inspiration for a transitional bedroom remodel in Boston

The Main Stay House exists as a straightforward proposal on an urban infill lot, paring down the components of a house to a minimal amount of planes and openings. The scheme is anchored by a modern entry sequence and a staircase volume, both clad in iron spot masonry externally and internally, creating thresholds between the respective realms of public, common and private, by minimal means. The masonry contrasts with an otherwise muted interior atmosphere of smooth, desaturated surfaces. The entry sequence is a twist upon the conventional domestic front door, front facade, and fence. The front masonry wall replaces the typical residential fence and frames an indirect access to the front door, functioning as a privacy barrier while revealing slices of the interior to the public street. The staircase bifurcates the layout to provide a clear division between the common and private zones of the house, while clearly reading as a mass from all outside view. Brick and glass become portals between common and private zones. The design consolidates the service core along the west façade, allowing the structure to fully open the living zone to the pool court and existing trees. This directly connects interior and exterior, as well as human and nature. Freedom to vary the program or functional use of the area is enabled and strongly encouraged. Photography: Charles Davis Smith

This residence was a complete gut renovation of a 4-story row house in Park Slope, and included a new rear extension and penthouse addition. The owners wished to create a warm, family home using a modern language that would act as a clean canvas to feature rich textiles and items from their world travels. As with most Brooklyn row houses, the existing house suffered from a lack of natural light and connection to exterior spaces, an issue that Principal Brendan Coburn is acutely aware of from his experience re-imagining historic structures in the New York area. The resulting architecture is designed around moments featuring natural light and views to the exterior, of both the private garden and the sky, throughout the house, and a stripped-down language of detailing and finishes allows for the concept of the modern-natural to shine. Upon entering the home, the kitchen and dining space draw you in with views beyond through the large glazed opening at the rear of the house. An extension was built to allow for a large sunken living room that provides a family gathering space connected to the kitchen and dining room, but remains distinctly separate, with a strong visual connection to the rear garden. The open sculptural stair tower was designed to function like that of a traditional row house stair, but with a smaller footprint. By extending it up past the original roof level into the new penthouse, the stair becomes an atmospheric shaft for the spaces surrounding the core. All types of weather – sunshine, rain, lightning, can be sensed throughout the home through this unifying vertical environment. The stair space also strives to foster family communication, making open living spaces visible between floors. At the upper-most level, a free-form bench sits suspended over the stair, just by the new roof deck, which provides at-ease entertaining. Oak was used throughout the home as a unifying material element. As one travels upwards within the house, the oak finishes are bleached to further degrees as a nod to how light enters the home. The owners worked with CWB to add their own personality to the project. The meter of a white oak and blackened steel stair screen was designed by the family to read “I love you” in Morse Code, and tile was selected throughout to reference places that hold special significance to the family. To support the owners’ comfort, the architectural design engages passive house technologies to reduce energy use, while increasing air quality within the home – a strategy which aims to respect the environment while providing a refuge from the harsh elements of urban living. This project was published by Wendy Goodman as her Space of the Week, part of New York Magazine’s Design Hunting on The Cut. Photography by Kevin Kunstadt

Madrona Passive House, a new Seattle home designed by SHED Architecture & Design and built by Hammer & Hand, combines contemporary design with high performance building to create an environmentally responsive and resource-efficient house. The home’s airtight, super-insulated building envelope and passive design minimize energy consumption while providing superior thermal comfort to occupants. A heat recovery ventilator supplies constant fresh air to the home’s interior while recovering 90% of thermal energy from exhaust air for reuse inside. A rooftop solar photovoltaic array will provide enough energy to offset most, perhaps all, of the home’s energy consumption on a net annual basis. To manage stormwater the project employs permeable pavers for site hardscape and two cisterns to capture and control rainwater from the home’s roof and the green roof on the garage. By investing in sustainable site development strategies, efficient building systems and an advanced envelope, the project aims to respect the home’s environmentally critical site and achieve one of the world’s most demanding building energy standards: Passive House. Photos by Mark Woods Photography.

Sandy Agrafiotis
Inspiration for a timeless medium tone wood floor kitchen/dining room combo remodel in Portland Maine with gray walls

Modern Row House For this new home in Boston’s oldest neighborhood, Flavin Architects imagined an elegant structure that capitalizes on the natural light and beautiful views abundant in Charlestown. Our firm sought to respect the historic fabric of the city while designing for the 21st century. The façade, with its projecting two-story bay, divided windows and vertical proportions respect the adjacent urban pattern. Stripped down and elegant detailing, devoid of ornament, connects the structure to today’s modern Boston. The exterior combines cedar shingles and shiplap boards with jet mist granite. This dark grey exterior contrasts with a bright white interior washed with sunlight. Each floor is accessed by a stairwell illuminated by a Wasco skylight. Sunlight pours down and refracts through glass paneling run underneath a natural wood handrail down the stairwell. The dining room and adjacent sitting room are bathed in warmth and light from a double-sided fireplace. In the dining room, floor-to-ceiling windows open to the street, and frame a view of the stained glass windows in St. Mary’s Church. Above the bedrooms and master suite on the third floor, a rooftop deck provides our client with views of Charlestown, Boston, and the Bunker Hill Monument.

Tom Arena
Large traditional three-story brick exterior home idea in Providence with a hip roof

Patrick Wong Photography
Bedroom - contemporary medium tone wood floor bedroom idea in Austin with beige walls

The overhang seen here is new. The interior ceiling is original. The bluestone outdoor kitchen was designed around the existing Cypress tree. The door threshold seen here was designed to be completely flush inside and out.

Modern Row House For this new home in Boston’s oldest neighborhood, Flavin Architects imagined an elegant structure that capitalizes on the natural light and beautiful views abundant in Charlestown. Our firm sought to respect the historic fabric of the city while designing for the 21st century. The façade, with its projecting two-story bay, divided windows and vertical proportions respect the adjacent urban pattern. Stripped down and elegant detailing, devoid of ornament, connects the structure to today’s modern Boston. The exterior combines cedar shingles and shiplap boards with jet mist granite. This dark grey exterior contrasts with a bright white interior washed with sunlight. Each floor is accessed by a stairwell illuminated by a Wasco skylight. Sunlight pours down and refracts through glass paneling run underneath a natural wood handrail down the stairwell. The dining room and adjacent sitting room are bathed in warmth and light from a double-sided fireplace. In the dining room, floor-to-ceiling windows open to the street, and frame a view of the stained glass windows in St. Mary’s Church. Above the bedrooms and master suite on the third floor, a rooftop deck provides our client with views of Charlestown, Boston, and the Bunker Hill Monument.

This LEED Platinum certified house reflects the homeowner's desire for an exceptionally healthy and comfortable living environment, within a traditional neighborhood. INFILL SITE. The family, who moved from another area of Wellesley, sought out this property to be within walking distance of the high school and downtown area. An existing structure on the tight lot was removed to make way for the new home. 84% of the construction waste, from both the previous structure and the new home, was diverted from a landfill. ZED designed to preserve the existing mature trees on the perimeter of the property to minimize site impacts, and to maintain the character of the neighborhood as well as privacy on the site. EXTERIOR EXPRESSION. The street facade of the home relates to the local New England vernacular. The rear uses contemporary language, a nod to the family’s Californian roots, to incorporate a roof deck, solar panels, outdoor living space, and the backyard swimming pool. ZED’s careful planning avoided to the need to face the garage doors towards the street, a common syndrome of a narrow lot. THOUGHTFUL SPACE. Homes with dual entries can often result in duplicate and unused spaces. In this home, the everyday and formal entry areas are one and the same; the front and garage doors share the entry program of coat closets, mudroom storage with bench for removing your shoes, and a laundry room with generous closets for the children's sporting equipment. The entry area leads directly to the living space, encompassing the kitchen, dining and sitting area areas in an L-shaped open plan arrangement. The kitchen is placed at the south-west corner of the space to allow for a strong connection to the dining, sitting and outdoor living spaces. A fire pit on the deck satisfies the family’s desire for an open flame while a sealed gas fireplace is used indoors - ZED’s preference after omitting gas burning appliances completely from an airtight home. A small study, with a window seat, is conveniently located just off of the living space. A first floor guest bedroom includes an accessible bathroom for aging visitors and can be used as a master suite to accommodate aging in place. HEALTHY LIVING. The client requested a home that was easy to clean and would provide a respite from seasonal allergies and common contaminants that are found in many indoor spaces. ZED selected easy to clean solid surface flooring throughout, provided ample space for cleaning supplies on each floor, and designed a mechanical system with ventilation that provides a constant supply of fresh outdoor air. ZED selected durable materials, finishes, cabinetry, and casework with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and no added urea formaldehyde. YEAR-ROUND COMFORT. The home is super insulated and air-tight, paired with high performance triple-paned windows, to ensure it is draft-free throughout the winter (even when in front of the large windows and doors). ZED designed a right-sized heating and cooling system to pair with the thermally improved building enclosure to ensure year-round comfort. The glazing on the home maximizes passive solar gains, and facilitates cross ventilation and daylighting. ENERGY EFFICIENT. As one of the most energy efficient houses built to date in Wellesley, the home highlights a practical solution for Massachusetts. First, the building enclosure reduces the largest energy requirement for typical houses (heating). Super-insulation, exceptional air sealing, a thermally broken wall assembly, triple pane windows, and passive solar gain combine for a sizable heating load reduction. Second, within the house only efficient systems consume energy. These include an air source heat pump for heating & cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation, and high efficiency appliances. Lastly, photovoltaics provide renewable energy help offset energy consumption. The result is an 89% reduction in energy use compared to a similar brand new home built to code requirements. RESILIENT. The home will fare well in extreme weather events. During a winter power outage, heat loss will be very slow due to the super-insulated and airtight envelope– taking multiple days to drop to 60 degrees even with no heat source. An engineered drainage system, paired with careful the detailing of the foundation, will help to keep the finished basement dry. A generator will provide full operation of the all-electric house during a power outage. OVERALL. The home is a reflection of the family goals and an expression of their values, beautifully enabling health, comfort, safety, resilience, and utility, all while respecting the planet. ZED - Architect & Mechanical Designer Bevilacqua Builders Inc - Contractor Creative Land & Water Engineering - Civil Engineering Barbara Peterson Landscape - Landscape Design Nest & Company - Interior Furnishings Eric Roth Photography - Photography

A full height second story addition doubled the amount of living space while maintaining a respectful height relationship with the neighbors.
Inspiration for a transitional beige two-story house exterior remodel in DC Metro