I have a confession to make: I always tell people I prefer modern architecture, but that’s not the whole story. The truth is, my architectural preferences depend on the situation and the project.
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“This home in California certainly isn’t Modern, but it’s not historically ‘correct,’ either,” architect Duo Dickinson says. “Do these realities matter? The owners deeply love it. That’s what matters.”
Some years end up being cultural pivot points. 2020 was one such year, with COVID-19 as the first existential threat to our culture since World War II.

Even though my wife and I undertook a whole-house renovation of our 1909 Victorian a few years ago, we’re already thinking about our next project. We love our home and our neighborhood, but a house with 10-foot ceilings on every level means a lot of stairs.

I once interviewed a young architect who lamented that the bulk of her design commissions were for remodeling work. Hungry and ambitious, she was on the hunt for bigger game, and custom homes were her quarry. This isn’t unusual with inchoate architecture careers.

I used to have a real estate dream that went something like this:

There’s a street in my neighborhood that offers the perfect tableau of old house versus new. On one lot is a home built around 1865. It boasts restrained proportions, stately exterior trim, and cedar siding installed so flawlessly that the caulk—if there is any—is invisible.

The Verandah House in Hampton Island, Ga. is an example of the classical architecture that architect Andrew Cogar embraces (Photo: Attic Fire Photography).

Three years ago, my wife and I bought a down-at-the-heels 1909 farmhouse in a quaint little Maryland neighborhood that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Long ignored by many homebuyers, the area remained affordable for years.

Workshop APD principals Matt Berman and Andrew Kotchen like to use authentic materials. Their design for the About Last Knife restaurant in Chicago kept the circa-1912 brickwork, using it as a canvas for a mural (Photo: Dan Kelleghan).
In 2006, Matt Berman and Andrew Kotchen, founding principals of Workshop APD, won the international design competition sponsored by Global Green USA and Brad Pitt to rethink New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

As an architect, my biggest inspiration comes from my ears, eyes, and experiences. I have listened, read, visited, explored, and collaborated with many creatives throughout the years.

The average American home has grown over the years, and the kitchen has followed in lockstep. New homes have ballooned from around 1,500 square feet in 1970 to about 2,775 square feet in 2017. Similarly, the kitchen has gone from about 70 square feet in size to just a hair more than 150.

The staircase in this Venice Beach, Calif., custom home may seem simple and straightforward, but in reality it’s a feat of engineering that involved structural ingenuity to execute, says architect

Mark Turner
Founder and Owner
Mark Turner was drawn to the building industry by a childhood of playing and creating outdoors near his home in Jackson Hole, Wyo.


In the fall of 2018, I had the privilege of taking a day to tour two very special companies while I was visiting Copenhagen, and the level of craft and attention to detail evident in their products blew me away.

Michael Lehrer, FAIA
President
Michael Lehrer designed his first home 40 years ago and has been at it ever since.

BALA winner Piebald Ranch, in Texas Hill Country, designed by Craig McMahon Architects. (Photo: Craig McMahon, AIA)
To be honored in the Best in American Living Awards (BALA), a custom home must exceed the client’s expectations and make a powerful design statement. In 2018, a panel of eight judges gave awards to 24 custom and spec homes.



Last year Zillow reported that more than 15 percent of American households are empty nests. As the silver tsunami continues to swell—and as many of us attempt to ride it—that number will grow.