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photo courtesy of Louisa Hufstader
Many thanks to the folks who made it to the Bunch of Grapes bookstore on Martha's Vineyard on a rainy Friday for my book talk/signing for The New Small House. It was great to chat about the book on the shores of my home away from home. I signed additional copies that the store has in stock -- for any of you on Island and still looking for holiday gifts. Hint, hint ;-)
Merry, merry.
by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast
Please join me this holiday season at Bunch of Grapes bookstore on Martha's Vineyard (my home away from home) for a book talk, followed by a Q&A session and book signing!
Friday, December 18, 2015
brief talk starting at 7:00 pm followed by Q&A and signing until 8:30/9:00 pm.
Bunch of Grapes bookstore (35 Main Street, Vineyard Haven, MA)
by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast
I just added this brief behind-the-scenes video about The New Small House to the KHS YouTube channel. It features Editor Peter Chapman of the Taunton Press at the photo shoot for the introduction to the book. Find other videos at the KHS YouTube channel like Home with Katie: Design Tips and How to look at houses... (like an architect).
by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast
I always look forward to spotting this mansard charmer as I weave my way home. At one and one-half stories, it satisfies a fundamental ingredient of my Recipe for Architectural Charm: grounding roof lines.
It also exhibits legible massing. Its simple rectangular plan is augmented by a side porch and tall symmetrical bays on the front that flank the entry and presumably serve living areas -- perhaps a dining area on one side and a parlor on the other. Similarly tall, gabled dormers containing pairs of skinny double-hung windows that relate to the greater width of the bays their centered above, and a single dormer, containing a less skinny double-hung centered on the entry, serve, what I imagine, are bedrooms.
The white on white exterior clapboards and trim capped with a contrasting charcoal-gray roof demonstrate another ingredient of architectural charm: a simple color palette. And the harmonious materials of wood clapboards and trim atop a simple brick foundation round-out its appeal.
But it's the architectural-charm ingredient of thoughtful details that I'm focusing on today, while I consider the design of an exterior renovation that could benefit from their example. The mansard's deep projecting eave brackets, more vertical bay-window eave brackets, pronounced entry cornice brackets, and the quiet brackets receiving the dormer rake trim all communicate a hierarchical order while visually supporting interesting layered overhangs that cast nuanced shadows. Various trim depths, heights, and profiles further contribute to the thoughtful order that animates the facade. I'll keep these in mind and ponder how to translate them to the renovation project currently affixed to my drawing board.
I'm grateful to have this charmer as part of my daily visual lexicon, especially around Christmas.
by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast
Montage from my book-launch event at the IMAGO gallery in Warren, RI. That's my editor, Peter Chapman, from the Taunton Press with me and the book. Many thanks to my multi-tasking husband, Chris Hufstader, for the photos.
A heart-felt thank-you to those of you who were able to attend the local launch event at IMAGO gallery for my book The New Small House! Thanks, too, to all of the well-wishers who weren't able to attend but were there in spirit. It was great fun for me to share the book with fellow small-house fans and House Enthusiasts.
I look forward to discussing the book with folks at events elsewhere in the country, too. Plans are in the works. Let me know if there's an event/venue in your neck of the woods that you think I should consider attending for a signing and/or book talk.
Meanwhile, happy small-house living!
by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast
