Closure: The final chapter of a series on the design process

A couple of weeks ago, I took a trip to New Jersey to photograph a project about which I've been writing occasionally.  Unlike previous visits to the site, this was purely for my own benefit.  The house is complete, furnishings placed, and the owners have moved in for their beach-side holidays.  I packed my bags and camera and booked into my home-away-from-home inn.


It has been a long process.  But the builder, Gary Hedrick, along with his incredible crew, made the journey as painless and pleasant as possible. This was my time to see where we've arrived.  However, in order to understand the impact, I think it's important to see a little of where we've come from.

The Original Home

An Early Character Sketch

The Finished Home

Whenever I have the opportunity to return to a project, it is like visiting a child whom you've watched grow and mature.  There is a connection to the built form that is hard to explain.  While I work hard to capture the essence of who my clients are, a part of me gets knitted into the project's fabric.

Entry Hall

Given the scope of the project, combined with the restraints of the prescriptive building envelope, I am very pleased with the spaces we were able to create.  There is a true variety of scale, mood and texture in the house.  However, each of these spaces is held together by a common thread of detail and proportion much like contrasting yet coordinated beads on a string.  

The Library

I am greatly indebted to the craftsmen who took as much pride in the project as I.  Only through a team with a consistent commitment to quality can such a project come together smoothly.  From precise framing to artisan woodworking and finishing, each layer of workmanship relies on the foundation of the one set before it.  Not only is this a beautiful home to look at, but one can also feel the integrity of the workmanship that is systemically incorporated throughout.

The Great Room

Designed as a gathering place for extended family, this is the kind of home that one can easily see passing on through many generations and serving as the backdrop for some of life's greatest memories.

Developing Style

In a recent posting, I talked about our commitment at Ramsay Gourd Architects to use design elements to paint portraits of our clients.  The key here is to not let your own tastes get in the way of your clients’ personalities.  This is a real challenge if you want to make consistently beautiful projects, but an important aspect of working with clients.

Daring Color Carried with Authority

Yesterday, I started posting to my new Pinterest account.  This was eye opening for me.  While I spend so much of my time listening to clients’ aesthetic needs, I rarely listen to my own design voice.  I guess I take my personal style for granted. 

The truth is, every decision we make is a reflection of our personal style.  Each choice is like a brush-stroke in our own self portrait.  In talking about marketing with our staff, I am known to say that every selection we make is one of marketing.  That’s true on one level.  Our outward appearance is the marketing we offer the world. 

The other aspect of personal style is how we chose to live our lives.  Are we involved civically, spiritually and politically within our community?  Are we generous with our time, spirit and talents? 

True style is something that is completely natural.  While you might be able to wear that sweater that your mother-in-law gave you, your peers will know it’s not of your essential taste.  The same is true for lifestyle integrity.  How often have we met a teacher for whom their career is just that, and contrasted it with a teacher who has found his or her calling?

This is not to say that style cannot be developed.  Like learning a new sport, sometimes developing a style comes from changing patterns and practicing them repeatedly.   Whether it’s starting to add color to your wardrobe or philanthropy to your bottom line, start with baby steps and develop a habit.  

Portrait of a Client

 I’m often asked “Do you have a design style?”  I find that a tough question to answer, as my work is project specific and stylistically varied.  As an architect, illustrator and designer, my goal is to convey a message, evoke a feeling, and most often, paint a portrait of my client.  Few people hire a custom designer to create a project that looks just like their neighbor’s.

Whether designing a home, a room or a restaurant, my first objective is to get to know my client and understand his or her vision.  I send clients off from initial meetings with a homework assignment.  Our programming worksheets ask the clients a number of questions about the project in question.  Digital or tactile clippings files of inspirational images are requested so that clients can graphically communicate their tastes and preferences.

On the designer side of the equation, I like to take research field trips.  I will often schedule to visit my clients’ homes or explore similar program type precedents.  (I recently visited a couple in New Jersey to better understand their personal tastes as I prepared to design their Vermont home.  And a tour of New York brasseries armed me with a vocabulary to pursue a recent restaurant project.)

 

In the end, every project I design should be a clear reflection of the owner.  Infused in its fiber, needs to be a DNA as unique as a fingerprint.  That core thesis in turn, informs every decision about the project, such that each detail supports the whole, creating an end product that is about its built, temporal and personal context.

Architectural Salvation

 For old houses, salvation comes not in the form of a Messiah, but rather, the hands of a talented crew of dedicated builders.  I am fortunate to have a large portion of my practice focused on the restoration of wonderful buildings that have fallen prey to the hands of time.  It takes a special team of clients, designers and builders who see the value in preserving and restoring these historic gems.

Often with old buildings, there is a palpable sense of history that has little to do with the remaining sticks and bricks that stand before you.  Our job is to capture that spirit, by thoroughly documenting the character-defining attributes and developing strategies for bringing the structure up to modern performance standards while preserving the essence  of the building.

Our current extensive rehabilitation project is one that has caught the attention of the community.  Sited on Main Street, in Manchester, Vermont,  it is a contributing building to the Village Historic District.  In its heyday, it was a delightful summer home, with wrap-around porches and gracious lawns.  When the current owners bought it, the porches were falling off, trees were growing out of the roof and wild animals had taken up residence within.

The Independent - Thursday, April 7, 1870

Before we could start developing a plan, we spent a great deal of time documenting the existing structure, and trying to establish the chronology of changes that had occurred over the life of the building.  Photographs and drawings were made to chronicle the building details that would require re-fabrication.  Builder, Paul Mackson, peeled back layers of finishes, and tore out non-load-bearing walls that had been superficially erected to create a warren of rooms.  Organic insulation believed to be seaweed and old newspapers were removed from wall cavities.  A Wall Street Journal from 1875 and an 1870 issue of The Independent firmly positioned the house in the late 19th century.

Ready for jacking!

A good foundation is paramount to any structures longevity.  Once the primary demolition was complete, Connor House Movers came in to jack up the structure off of its assemblage of stone walls that had shifted over the past century and had gaping holes and waterways running through them.  Excavators are in the process of digging out the basement.  Soon the house will be lowered back onto a clean, dry and insulated basement.

Positioned for its new foundation.

When complete, this village gem will once again be a positive contributor to the charming character of Manchester, Vermont.  Its lucky inhabitants will reap the benefits of a tight and energy-efficient home that boasts the conveniences of modern living while maintaining the nostalgic grace of a bygone era.

Going the Distance

At Ramsay Gourd Architects, we have a policy that we want to be your architect for life.  And while not on the same level as the covenant of marriage, we do take our relationship with our clients very seriously.  Not always will we see things eye to eye, but through open and candid discussion, we can usually gain an insight into each other's paradigm and learn to appreciate our differences.

 Park Avenue Residence

I believe this is why so much of our our work is with repeat clients.  From our little practice in Vermont, we have had opportunities to work, not only in New England, but also in New York, New Jersey, and most recently, Southern California.

While I am a big advocate of regional contextualism, I believe that through careful study, good visual communication and an understanding of site conditions and indigenous construction practices, a thoughtful designer can do responsible work.  Sometimes, this requires tapping into local talent to achieve our goals.  In Manhattan, I have employed an excellent expediting consultant to help navigate through the bureaucratic labyrinth of New York permitting.  On the New Jersey coast, I worked with engineers who understand the nuance of appeasing the Zoning and Building Administrators.  In Monecitto, CA, my role is that of the designer, working with an architect of record who will be doing the heavy lifting by generating the working drawings and permitting packages.

Montecito, CA Residence

While this may seem like a laborious and potentially costly way to approach the design process, it does have some built-in efficiencies.  Primarily, we know each other.  As a designer, I understand my clients' tastes and idiosyncrasies.  They know how to communicate with me, and hopefully have established a level of trust in our work.

Food for Thought

Computer Model View of Dining Room and Open Kitchen

 For over a year, I have had the pleasure of working with a passionate couple who are following their dreams to Vermont.  Michel Boyer and Beth Whitaker packed up their stable urban life to move to the country and open a Provence-inspired Brasserie.  Michel has spent his life in the hospitality industry, most recently as manager of Brasserie 8 1/2 in New York.  Trained as a graphic artist, Beth has developed her hand as a fine oil-painter.  This husband and wife duo combines their creative energy with experience in the business of hospitality.

Michel labored over the restaurant's name.  He wanted something clearly French, pronouncable by the great American un-washed, and reflects the sense of place he envisioned. Brasserie L'Oustau de Provence sums that up for him.  For those of you, like me, who have no idea what that means, the following definition should shed a little light.

Oustau  (oo – sto’), -noun  1. an ancient Roman agricultural homestead structure found in the South of France, often occupied by landowner, farm workers, and their extended families, serving as the heart of community. 

Working with Steven and Lauren Bryant, who helped to locate and evaluate potential properties, we seriously studied two other sites before selecting the building at 1716 Depot Street in Manchester.  The property was a going concern, but had little to do with the concept or menu of what was to become Brasserie L'Oustau.  What it did have were high ceilings, an open kitchen and an antique bar that oddly enough was perfect for our vision.

I took a field trip to New York and attended the annual hotel and restaurant show there.  While in the city, I met with Michel, and he took me on a whirlwind tour of the best brasserie spaces that Manhattan has to offer.    Balthazar, with its cool vibe and great sense of place has the recipe well worked out.  The architecture and details at Brasserie Ruhlmann are exceptional.  But what would would you expect from a restaurant named after the great Art Deco designer Emile-Jaques Ruhlmann?  Artisinal Bistro on 32nd and Park combines the brasserie dining experience with an exceptional fromagerie that purveys some of the finest hand-crafted cheeses available in the city.

Massive Columns,  brass-capped banquettes and
carefully selected lighting combine with a custom mosaic
floor to create a true brasserie environment.

Armed with this vision and sense of experience, we attacked the plans with enthusiasm.  (I had also just read Danny Meyer's book, Setting the Table, which re-lit my hospitality sense from my years as an innkeeper.)  The thesis was clear.  The concept concrete.  And the scope of worked pre-defined.  We set out taking down walls to create the open feel and dynamic flow.  I designed a custom mosaic tile to paint the floors with, and detailed massive columns that are iconic elements of our brasserie precedents.


We are not yet two months into the project, and as the tile is laid, the space is really coming together.  Lighting will be installed next week and furniture arrives as staff training takes place the following week.  A soft opening will launch three weeks from now, and I can hardly wait.  I'm sure that L'Oustau will prove to be a comfortable and envigorating hub for our community.

Eat Your Garden!

Ellen Ecker Ogden’s new book, The Complete Kitchen Garden has just come out, and it is worth buying if you are at all interested in growing your own wholesome food.  The book is a great collaboration, bringing together Ellen’s vast knowledge and eloquent writing, Ali Kaukas’ brilliant photographs and a catalogue of watercolor illustrations that I painted.

The New York Times book review states “Ogden’s recipes zero in on the freshest possible ingredients.  If you don’t have a garden when you crack this book open, you’ll be ordering seeds by the time you put it down.”

Ali’s photographs range from the broadly illustrative to the intimate.  Her landscape shots will take you away to warmer days and secret gardens while her close-ups will make your mouth water.  Ellen’s fourteen garden schemes make for delightful watercolor compositions.  Intricate geometries are rendered with a loose hand that brings about colorful interpretation.

More than just an inspiration, this book provides step-by-step instruction on how to develop a beautiful, edible landscape and literally bring the fruits to the table.  You can now purchase copies through Ellen’s website, or at the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT.