Walk Score enumerates six factors which contribute to a walkable neighborhood: a discernible center, compact density, mixed income and mixed use, convenient parks and public spaces, pedestrian-centric design, and nearby schools and workplaces. All make for a vibrant neighborhood with positive environmental, social, and economic impacts. I sang the praises of my condo’s interior neighborhood amidst my exterior, walkable neighborhood here.

Walkability should be a primary factor in awarding “green” status. It’s only common sense. Read more about Common Sense Green here.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Image excerpt from Fine Homebuilding Drawing Board column about inglenooks

Visit the KHS publications page to see other magazine columns and articles I've written.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Photos (and drawings) provided by Susan and Ryan Hayes.A couple builds a smaller, affordable, “green” house

When I called Susan Hayes to talk to her about her new, affordable, “green” house in Williston, Vermont, one of the first things she said was, “We really wanted to respect the local vernacular…” She and her husband Ryan created what they call a “Modern Farmhouse”. The exterior was inspired by the farmhouse Ryan’s dairy-farming great grandparents’ owned, and “the inside is really sparse which is more of a Modern feel,” explains Susan. Their hybrid aesthetic is unusual for a “green” home.  The fact that it’s smaller is a “green” hallmark.

Smaller and greener
I found Susan and Ryan through their blog Building Green in Vermont in which they have documented their home’s “green” evolution. “We really weren’t that enlightened when we started,” admits Susan. But thanks, in part, to a lengthy local permitting process, they had time to research and educate themselves in efficient and sustainable design. Susan discovered that “size is absolutely critical.” After estimates for an initial design proved too expensive, she and Ryan realized they would need to downsize to keep the construction of their first house on budget and “green”. They scrapped plans for a 2200 sq. ft house (not including a finished, walk-out basement) for a 1568 sq. ft house (not including a finished, walk-out basement).

As part of a two-story bay of sorts, it projects toward the street and takes advantage of the space above it to give it greater prominence.  The scalloped shingle skirt, below the sills of the second-floor bay windows, helps announce the entry with a flair of flare.  The windows in the entry sidewall contribute a playful indoor/outdoor feel to this semi-enclosed entry porch.  Paneled half walls appear poised to embrace guests.  Chamfered post and panel details are enhanced by a dynamic paint-color scheme.  Together, the quirky elements of this diminutive entry suggest a storybook cheerfulness.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

Brimming with ice, the boat was parked almost as firmly on the beach as the dark, worn rocks it had chosen for company.  Frozen water had found level in the old beached vessel.  A pattern of lapping waves in the sand swirled around the boat’s bowed sides and neighboring rounded rocks.  By contrast, the square edges of the boat’s seats betrayed our often orthogonal constructs.  The combination of curves, both natural and man-made, and straight or level surfaces, both natural and man-made, transfixed me.

When I look at this photo today, it seems a model of sympathetic site design.  I will tuck it away in my visual memory to tap into when pondering how to create a future site design in which a human intervention resonates with its natural environment.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

We all know of places we associate with happiness.  It might be your childhood home, your kitchen, a garden, a town square, even a market.  I could make a long list.  I imagine sometimes we’re projecting what we feel on these places, and other times these places are projecting themselves on our feelings.  If we could decipher the specific qualities of the places which make us happy, then, surely, we could create places with incorporate those characteristics in order to foster our happiness.  This is, in part, the subject of Alain de Botton’s The Architecture of Happiness which I reviewed here.

When I apply my understanding of architectural space to my experience parked in Menemsha, I realize part of what appealed to me was my ability to experience a larger space or vista from within the comfort of a bordering, more intimate space.

Imagine if we shaped the snow in our backyards, patios, or driveways to create inspired winter designs viewed from within our homes and experienced outside them.  Winter snow gardens are a largely untapped home-design opportunity.  Sounds like an idea that might appeal to the inner child within us all.  Let it snow.  Let it snow.  Let it snow.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast  

Click on this photo to see it in the KHS photo note cards/prints gallery.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

It carves a unique silhouette with two primary tapers below the eave line and two subtle tapers toward the cap.  The unusual mix of material and color, coupled with the unique arrangement of components, teases our curiosity.  What is meant to occupy the herringbone niche at second-floor level?  What is the meaning of echoing the herringbone pattern above the niche?  How do we explain the placement of the stone elements?

This chimney seems to be telling a story.  Perhaps the two solitary rocks are eyes in an upside-down face, featuring a niche nose and ceramic “o” mouth above a herringbone goatee.  Or perhaps I’ve seen too many of those smiley-face Amex ads.

Whatever its story, this chimney reveals the human hand and spirit at work embellishing and communicating through abstraction.  It’s an imaginative, compelling expression.  If only more chimneys exhibited such exuberance.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Don't miss Patti Moreno, Roxbury's "Garden Girl", speaking about urban gardening and sustainability on December 16, 6:00 pm at the Boston Public Library's Rabb Hall as part of the Boston Society of Architects Exploring Design free lecture series. 

Patti can be found on GardenGirlTV.com and in her ezine Urban Sustainable Living promoting back-to-basics sustainable gardening, farming, and homemaking practices for the city and suburbs.  For me, to be a house enthusiast is to be a garden enthusiast.  Each contributes to the other, much as my mother's in-town house and garden do.  If you haven't the time or opportunity to attend the Boston Public Library event, check out Patti's online offerings.  You'll find plenty of food for thought.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast