The Complete Guide to Residential Architecture

Forty Miles North of Manhattan

I am a residential architect practicing in Westchester County, New York, forty miles north of Manhattan. In 1999, my wife (also an architect) and I launched the residential architecture firm, Fivecat Studio.

Houses are our passion. Almost every weekend (when we're not working on our own cottage in the woods of Chappaqua), we load the kids and dogs into the car and take a ride through the back roads of Westchester County looking for great houses. When we go on vacation, we look for great houses. When we eat dinner, we discuss great houses. When we sleep, we dream of great houses. When we work, we strive to design great houses. It's what we do. It's what we are. We are residential architects... and we love great houses.

We also enjoy seeing what other residential architects are doing. It's interesting to us, to see how the same "problem" (to create a building, in which people live) is uniquely "solved" with each new project. A great house is a reflection of the owners' personalities and interests, a sensitive response to the environment in which it is located and a unique expression of the residential architect who designed it.

If you like houses and great house design, you'll love this lens.

...and if you love this lens, you may want to check out my blog (there's an RSS feed below) or subscribe to Fivecat Studio's free email newsletter all about residential architecture and design.

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All proceeds from this lens go to Soldier's Angels. May God bless our US military.

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FYI: The house at the top of this lens was designed by my partner (and wife) Annmarie McCarthy, AIA. It was designed for a family who lived in Mt. Kisco, New York. The house was to be built on the shore of Indian Lake in the Adirondack Mountains. Unfortunately, it was never built. After 9-11, the client terminated the contract and moved to North Carolina. If you're interested, send us an email. We'd love to see it built!

Fivecat Studio: Architecture

My firm's website

Fivecat.com: Fivecat Studio is dedicated to the creation of fine residential architecture. We provide complete architectural services for additions, renovations and new custom homes for discriminating clients throughout Westchester County, NY, Fairfield County, CT and the lower Hudson Valley Region.

Subscribe to the Fivecat Studio Newsletter

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Living Well in Westchester

An RSS Feed for My Blog on Residential Architecture and Design

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Westchester Green

An RSS Feed for My Blog on Green Architecture and Design

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Blogs

Residential Architecture & Design Throughout the Blogosphere

DesignTalk: DesignTalk is about solutions, ideas, sharing and community. Whether you're an experienced designer looking for home décor tips, or a college student trying to set up your first apartment, we have something for everyone.
Eye Candy: A pic a week from the Eye Candy weekly e-zine.
Inhabitat: Inhabitat.com is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.
Kitchen-Exchange: Straight talk from a kitchen designer? Here it is.
LiveModern: LiveModern is a free and open community for modern home buyers, architects, builders, developers, furnishers, lenders, realtors-anyone interested in modern and sustainable design for housing products and services.
The Kitchen Designer: From today's hot, modern, kitchens with innovative design solutions to classic kitchens, time tested and relevant, you'll find it HERE!
The Hardware Aisle: What's new is tools and home products from the editors of The Old House magazine.
Design Sponge: design*sponge is a daily website dedicated to home and product design run by Brooklyn-based writer, Grace Bonney.
Jill Clarkson Color + Design: Located just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in beautiful Marin County, I'm passionate about color + design and love do it yourself projects!
Reclaimed Home: I came up with the idea for this blog after living through 13 years of renovations. No, it wasn't all spent on one house (although our first home took us 9 years to partially complete.) My husband and I became addicted to buying and restoring homes. We're now on our fourth place. Here's a bit of history on how it all began%u2026.
The Happy Living Blog: The blog is about everything having to do with the place, experience and spirit of home and making our homes a place that we love.
House Things I Like: Follow Kathleen's renovation.

More from the Blogosphere

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Guides

Resource guides on Residential Architecture

A Guide to Working with an Architect: This is another Squidoo lens that I created to help you to get started working with an architect.
A Guide to Residential Architecture Styles: Learn about the home styles in your market and beyond. Realtor Magazine Online's guide to Residential Styles includes illustrations, photographs, and detailed descriptions about popular styles. Plus, use the Home Features guide to learn about architectural elements such as dormers, roofs, and arches that make a property distinct.
A Guide to Green Building: Explore the exciting world of natural building, including log, timber frame, straw bale, earth-sheltered and cordwood homes; solar designs; and energy-efficient heating and cooling options.
A Picture Dictionary of American House Styles: What style is your house? Browse this photo gallery for the most popular housing styles in North America. Click on the pictures for larger images along with facts, diagrams, building plans, and other helpful resources. Compiled by Jackie Craven at About.com.
A Guide to American House Styles: This page is your starting place for exploring house styles, with links to facts, photos, diagrams, and building plans for the most popular housing styles in North America. Compiled by Jackie Craven at About.com.
Glossary of Architectural Terms: A complete glossary provided by Archiseek.
GreenHomeGuide.com: Willem Maas founded GreenHomeGuide in San Francisco in 2004 to address the frustration and uncertainty he heard from people who wanted to green their homes but got bogged down trying to find reliable advice and sorting out products' competing claims. GreenHomeGuide helps close the gap between intentions and practical realities.
GreenHomeGuide.org: Another GreenHomeGuide. This one is from the U.S. Green Building Council. From Seattle to Des Moines to New York City, anyone can have a green home. Rented or owned, affordable or market-rate, single-family or multi-unit, urban, suburban or rural: If it's housing, it can be green.

Resources

Information on Residential Architecture

General Code's E-Code (Municipal Zoning): These online municipal zoning codes are organized alphabetically by state. To access an E-Code, choose a municipality name and see how easy it is to search and navigate.
REScheck Energy Code Compliance Tool: The REScheck (formerly MECcheck) materials have been developed to simplify and clarify code compliance with the Model Energy Code (MEC), the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), and a number of state codes. The New York State Residential Code requires that REScheck be completed and submitted by a licensed professional with any residential application for a building permit. This very handy calculator is offered as a download application or an online tool. It's provided by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Organizations

Additional resources for Residential Architecture

American Institute of Architects: AIA National. Learn what architects do, how they do it, and how they improve life in your community.
AIA Westchester / Mid-Huson: Westchester County chapter of the AIA.
Congress of Residential Architecture: CORA is dedicated to improve the quality of residential architecture through promoting dialogue among home owners, builders, and designers.
AIA Housing and Custom Residential Knowledge Community: The AIA Housing and Custom Residential Knowledge Community tracks housing issues and develops relationships with industry stakeholders to encourage and promote safe, attractive, accessible, and affordable housing for all Americans.
Congress for the New Urbanism: The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) is the leading organization promoting walkable, neighborhood-based development as an alternative to sprawl. CNU takes a proactive, multi-disciplinary approach to restoring our communities. Members are the life of the organization - they are the planners, developers, architects, engineers, public officials, investors, and community activists who create and influence our built environment, transforming growth patterns from the inside out. Whether it's bringing restorative plans to hurricane-battered communities in the Gulf Coast, turning dying malls into vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods, or reconnecting isolated public housing projects to the surrounding fabric, new urbanists are providing leadership in community building.
Society of American Registered Architects: The Society of American Registered Architects (SARA) was founded in 1956 as a professional society that includes the participation of all architects, regardless of their roles in the architectural community. SARA follows the Golden Rule and supports the concept of profitable professionalism for its members.
National Association of Home Builders: This site is designed for those interested in home building and the industry - it contains resources for both members and consumers.

Directories

Finding a Residential Architect

AIA | Architect Finder: The AIA Architect Finder is a search tool that will allow you to set your preferences for "distance" and "building type".
Not So Big House Professionals Directory: The Home Professionals Directory is comprised of those who embrace the Not So Big philosophy.
ArchitectureWeek Architect Directory: The ArchitectureWeek professional directory includes many thousands of architects and firms, large and small, local and global, from the US and internationally.
GreenSage Directory of Green Experts: A directory of residential architecture firms specializing in Green architecture.
USArchitecture.com: An online directory of Residential Architects.
Google Residential Architect Directory: Google...nuff sed.

Conferences

Events dedicated to Residential Architecture

Reinvention: A symposium organized by magazine publisher Hanley-Wood, dedicated to residential architects and architecture. Each year the Congress of Residential Architecture holds its annual meeting at Reinvention.
Build Boston | Residential Design and Construction: The Residential Design Conference Program offers over 50 workshops and related development opportunities designed to help attendees enrich their careers, their practices and their community.
Congress for the New Urbanism: The annual Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) is the leading venue for new urbanist networking, collaboration, and education. CNU members come from far and wide to discuss development practices and public policies, learn from recent innovative work, and advance new initatives to transform our communities.
AIA National Convention: The premier event for architects and building industry professionals.
International Builders Show: The International Builders' Show® is the largest annual light construction show in the world-over a million-and-a-half square feet of the latest and most advanced building products and services ever assembled. See all of the latest innovations for yourself with hands-on demonstrations and working models in over 300 building industry categories at the National Association Home Builders' annual convention.

Also at the IBS is NextBUILD, formerly tecHOMExpo. This conference features leading-edge home building technologies to give buyers the sophisticated homes they desire, and give builders an edge in the market.

Honor Awards

A list of awards programs honoring the best in Residential Architecture and Design

AIA National Honor Awards: The American Institute of Architects has a long tradition of recognizing individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievements in support of the profession of architecture and the AIA.
Residential Architect Magazine Design Awards: A design awards program administered by my favorite magazine, Residential Architect. Architects from all over the country submit their best work and a jury of their peers judge which projects rise above the rest.
Custom Home Magazine Pacesetter Awards: Residential Architect's sister publication, Custom Home, administers their own awards program honoring excellence in the business of building custom houses. In addition to design excellence, they present awards for Management, Innovation, Customer Service, Production, Innovation, Customer Service, Marketing and Management.
Architectural Digest's AD100: The AD 100 represents a selection of the top architects and interior designers whose work has been featured in Architectural Digest over the past several years. This special section gives readers a chance to explore a richly-varied landscape of styles. It also offers personal profiles of the figures behind the work, shedding light on their individual approaches and philosophies.
Congress for the New Urbanism Awards: The CNU Charter Awards are one of the most respected urban design awards programs internationally. The awards seek to recognize exemplary efforts to plan and build according to the Charter of the New Urbanism.

CNU began a new awards tradition at CNU XIV in 2006. The Athena Medal is named for the goddess, defender of the city, weaver of fabric. It recognizes the legacy of pioneers who laid the groundwork for New Urbanism.

Magazines and Journals

Enough casual reading for a month

Residential Architect: Residential Architect Online is devoted to the needs of the residential architect. Through this Web site the residential architect will find feature articles from residential architect magazine and more than 2,700 additional news sources, building product information, services directories, and advice from fellow pros. My favorite magazine on residential architecture.
Custom Home: Custom Home is a one-of-a-kind publication for builders and architects who create one-of-a-kind homes. With editorial that delves into every aspect of custom home design, construction, marketing, and customer service. Custom Home is an indispensable management and product resource tool for high end builders and architects.
Fine Homebuilding: For over 25 years, Fine Homebuilding has been the country's leading residential construction magazine. Practical and professional in scope, it covers all aspects of new construction and remodeling.
MyHouse: MyHouse Magazine is a nationally based on-line residential forum on design. They offer exceptional ideas useful to those undertaking a renovation, addition, or building a new home. They include imaginative product and trend ideas and share the work of interesting people.
This Old House: The PBS television show that started it all, This Old House has had the same mission since its start: to demystify the home improvement process and celebrate the fusion of old-world craftsmanship and modern technology.
Architectural Digest: The International Magazine of Design.
Coastal Living: Coastal Living is a lifestyle magazine for people who love the coast. Stories showcase home design and decorating, communities, travel and recreation, the environment, real estate, food and entertaining ideas, gardening and more. Their subject matter reflects not only a lifestyle but also a state of mind.
Metropolitan Home: Metropolitan Home is The Guide to Modern Design.
Traditional Home: Traditional Home is dedicated to today's woman. How she decorates, how she entertains, how she lives. Our readers are women with thoroughly modern families and careers, women who find a soothing balance to hectic lives through their homes. They have discovered the wonderful secret of great design: It allows them to live graciously and comfortably, yet embrace the best of the best new ideas. Classic Taste. Modern Life.
Westchester Magazine's Home & Garden: Westchester Magazine is an elegant and informative upscale lifestyle magazine, the only monthly consumer magazine focusing on Westchester County and its environs, that explores, investigates and celebrates life in what is without question one of the most beautiful, affluent and vibrant counties in the world. Check out the Spring 2006 issue for a feature on Fivecat Studio's King Street House.
Dwell: Dwell was created to champion an intelligent, thoughtful, and modern sensibility that stimulates our audience to envision-and realize-life at home in the modern world.
Old House Journal: Old House Journal is the original restoration magazine about restoring, renovating, decorating, and maintaining homes 50 or more years old. It is also a source of ideas for consumers intent on building historically inspired new houses. OHJ serves readers who are serious about their homes, enthusiastic about restoring, willing and able to spend money on products and services, and sensitive to period character and style.
Architect: The online edition of Architect magazine provides industry news, market intelligence, business and technology solutions, continuing education, a building products database, and other resources for the practicing architect.
ArchitectureWeek: ArchitectureWeek provides timely information and images with an independent perspective, for architects, builders, designers, planners, and other AEC industry professionals, for home makers, students, and teachers of design, and for everyone who appreciates good buildings and places, great design, quality craftsmanship, and the thoughts that make them real.
Architectural Record | Residential: The residential section of the official magazine of the AIA, Architectural Record. This page includes a link to "50 Years of Record Houses".

Great Sites

Websites about Residential Architecture

Frank Lloyd Wright | Life and Work: This PBS website, based on a documentary film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, includes an abundance of information on the master architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. From video of a 1949 interview by Mike Wallace to drawings and descriptions of selected master works, this outstanding site will keep you busy for hours.
The Not So Big House: The Not So Big House books by Sarah Susanka, bring to light a new way of thinking about what makes a place feel like home-characteristics that many people desire of their homes and their lives, but haven't known how to verbalize.

Residential Architects

Check out these websites and vote for your favorite firm.

These firms specialize in the creation of great houses. If you love residential architecture, you'll love these architects.

If you don't see your favorite? Just add it to the list.

Are you a residential architect? Are you on the list? Share your work with us.