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Yanoff
Having never worked with an architect, or built a custom designed home, our clients came to us not really knowing what style they wanted. They knew the spaces they wanted, and we knew the views we wanted to capture, so that was the starting point. With the range of possibilities almost endless, I prepared a series of rough floor plan sketches and corresponding exterior elevations to better understand their taste. The schemes ran the gamut from classic Georgian, to Craftsman, to Modern. As the client-architect relationship developed, I started to see their preferences. They wanted something understated, distinctive, and timeless. Understanding that we arrived at the ‘Shingle Style’.
The distinctly American Shingle Style had its genesis in the Boston area in the early 1880's. Although it was favored for the rambling seaside estates and resorts of the New England coast, over the next three decades it spread across the country. This home carefully integrates the characteristic features of the style, while wrapped in its namesake stained red cedar shingles. Full of wonderful spaces, the signature space is the family room. This 20’ long by 20’ wide by 20’ tall space features a barrel vault that springs from a point 10’ above the floor. The pure, classical geometry of this space makes everyone believe in the calming power of perfect proportions. |