My projects are of my design.
I don’t think of life as anything less than a great design and I feel that great design is part of life. Every project I embark on is in some way, shape or form…designed. I believe in the concept of “design thinking.” For those of you who don’t know what that is, I invite you to look it up and put it into practice. Conceptually it takes over your life to make things better, smoother, and even happier. Below is a project I am currently working on in life. Some of my projects are big and some are small, yet it seems they all take the same path when looking for creative solutions and always lead to answers of some great questions. I hope you enjoy the view of my journey.
We are building a house
to be our home.
But not just any house.
For years I have dreamed of building a house. Designing it myself, working with an architect, hatching the plan, then biting my fingernails with much anticipation through each step of construction.
First things first…finding the right piece of property. One funny thing about me is I believe the land itself would help provide the inspiration of the style and layout of the house. In the past five years, I have stood on dozens of vacant properties, looking and listening, as if I was some sort of “land whisperer" awaiting a message. Then, three years ago, I finally heard something. The perfect plot of land! Located in East Eden, New York, a wonderful and friendly rural community, south of Buffalo.
This nine-acre, corner lot rising seventy feet from the front road to the top, which we have affectionately named “The Hill,” quite possibly has the most perfect view anywhere. In the distance we see Lake Erie, the cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls, and on a really clear day we can see Toronto.
My original drawing (see below) is still the guiding benchmark of our ongoing design and development. I have teamed with a remarkable architect, Mike Anderson, owner of Abstract Architecture, who is so aligned with our thinking; a true, ego-less partner in every sense of the word. While I have done the initial design concepts, layout and elevations, I now leave it in the hands of Mike to make it all work. See below for middle-stage renderings and progress to date.
The full-color pictures you see above are references used to guide our design vision. When completed, our home will be a beautiful structure that appears to be sitting atop a massive slab that rose from the ground below and cantilevers over the hill. The house is being designed to include passive heating and cooling techniques, specific positioning allowing the sun to beam through windows throughout the day, as well as spacial composition inside and out to allow for great comfort. If anyone wonders what we might call this style, we refer to it as both “minimalist” and “Nordic.”
I really enjoy the home design process. I trust this will not be my last, yet I don’t know how this one will go. And then what…sell it and start another? Right now it feels like I would be selling off a child. Maybe I’ll build cool houses and collect them. Right?!?
By the way, the last picture above is our barn. It was built prior to the house being fully designed, yet it was built purposefully in form and function (as well as placement on the property) knowing full well what the house would look like. The two structures need to work together as they will be within visual proximity of each other. Check back to see our progress.