Builder Magazine: Custom Homes

A Stunner of a Stairway

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:49:10 EST

Vertical steel rods and cantilevered treads may look delicate, but this stairway is hefty and strong.

2008 Builder's Choice Awards: Lake Washington Residence

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:27:00 EST

2008 Builder's Choice Grand Award Winner

2008 Builder's Choice Awards: Kelly Residence

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:26:54 EST

2008 Builder's Choice Grand Award Winner

2008 Builder's Choice Awards: Piedmont Farm

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:27:23 EST

2008 Builder's Choice Grand Award Winner

2008 Builder's Choice Awards: Wik Cottage

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:28:05 EST

2008 Builder's Choice Grand Award Winner

2008 Builder's Choice Awards

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 06:36:28 EST

Inspiration for this riverside retreat began with a dog-eared photo of an old shucker's shanty—a simple structure typical of the watermen’s homes and boat sheds that populated the Chesapeake, Md., tidewater region in the 19th century.

2007 Builder's Choice Winner: Osprey House

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 09:03:01 EST

With its simple shape and clever economy, this 1,440-square-foot waterfront house updates the classic fishing shack.

2007 Builder's Choice Winner: Camouflage House

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 06:54:03 EST

There is more than one way to do a site-specific building. You can go with the one-with-nature approach or the contrast-to-nature approach. Or you can do a little of both. Johnsen Schmaling Architects made this vacation home modern but used the bark of the trees, the foliage, and the hillside to inform its design decisions.

2007 Builder's Choice Winner: Laplante Residence

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 04:24:18 EST

The prevailing architectural style in Rosemary Beach is “Dutch West Indies,” but the family that commissioned this 5,500-square-foot residence wanted a home blending Italian and Moroccan influences. Fortunately, the irregularly shaped lot was the biggest and farthest from the beach in the TND, which gave them some latitude to break the rules.

2007 Builder's Choice Winner: Stonington House

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 09:17:43 EST

The stone walls of medieval hill towns were built to protect residents from intruders and the wilds of nature, but on this home site they metaphorically serve the opposite purpose: to defend the natural landscape against the intrusion of buildings. Surrounded by seven acres of protected wetlands, the house and it's accompanying buildings sit on the site's highest point, the only sliver that was buildable. Architect Peter Twombly conceived it as a miniature “town,” separating the building for living and sleeping from the garage and barn.

An architect builds a custom home into the landscape

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:14:21 EST

Before Colin Brandt began work on designing a house overlooking Washington state's Puget Sound for Barbara and Peter Bradfield, he spent an afternoon on the Bradfields' boat. Brandt, his wife, and another architect from his Seattle-based firm, The Brandt Design Group, joined the Bradfields on their 1940s restored wooden cabin cruiser, lolling about on Seattle's Lake Union. They ate dinner as the sun set, and the guests had an opportunity to learn a little more about the couple.