Tips and Tricks | Vanderhorn Architects

Helpful Hints for Timeless Homes, Part 2: Locating Your House on Your Site

Welcome back to our blog series, “Helpful Hints for Timeless Homes,” where we cover all the little things that make the difference between a generic house and a VanderHorn Architects home that will age gracefully and avoid the pitfalls that seem to be all too common with new construction. Part 1 focused on considerations to make in selecting a property, and today’s Part 2 discusses how to locate your house on your site.

Let’s assume that you have a piece of land on which you want to build. You have a list of requirements for the house, you most likely have a budget, and you have a general idea of what you want it to look like.

But what are some considerations when thinking about where to place your home on your site?

*A peek of the view from our Seaside Shingle‘s living room*

The best place to start would be to review the considerations that we discussed in Part 1 of this series: Existing Conditions, Zoning, and Water. Those issues alone can often decide the location of your home for you.

Existing Conditions include site features you want to save or avoid, such as significant plants, rock outcroppings, poor soil conditions, difficult topography, existing buildings, and so forth. They also include views you want to embrace, along with views you’d like to avoid.

Zoning Regulations will instantly preclude portions of your site from being built on. They may also limit height or volume at certain portions of the site, whether due to view easements or topographical quirks. Coverage, floor area ratio, and volume requirements might also necessitate creativity.

Water, whether in the form of waterways, wetlands, or poor below-ground conditions, can also be a factor.

*A look at our Connecticut River Shingle project*

In addition to those items, there are several others that will inevitably have an impact, such as:

The Weather. The same views that attract you to the property can also come with greater exposure to the elements. A key factor to consider is how the sun interacts with your site. Finding a location that perfectly aligns with the sun’s path is rare, and clients may have a building program that does not easily take advantage of Mother Nature’s rays! As the architect, our job is to take in all of this information and inform the client on which location/orientation would best suit the home.

*We’re fortunate enough in this area that most waterfront properties have complementary sun and view exposures. That was especially true at our Oceanfront Shingle project.*

The Building Program. A building program designed to maximize property use can impose additional restrictions on how a home is situated. This is especially true for homes that are larger or spread out, have fewer stories, or have significant first-floor requirements. Even limiting the number of steps can influence the design.

The Automobile. You probably don’t want cars or garages to dominate the visual landscape of your home. On a generously-sized or sloped property, it’s easier to conceal them. However, this becomes more challenging on smaller or narrower sites.

*At our Mid-Country Manor, the garage area is out of sight, far away from the main entrance and tucked behind what will become dense landscaping (there is a glance of the garage to the right and back).*

The Budget. Being mindful of costs often means working with the site as it is, rather than drastically altering it to fit your vision. For example, working around a ledge is more cost-effective than blasting it out, and the same principle applies to topography, water, and soil issues.

Helpful Hints for Navigating These Considerations

1. Do Thorough Homework: Obtain an up-to-date survey with topography details, and ensure both your surveyor and architect are aware of any deed restrictions or encumbrances. Have your architect conduct a comprehensive zoning analysis and be aware of potential pitfalls. If you suspect issues with ledge or water, consult the appropriate engineers early on and avoid building on confirmed problem areas.

2. Get to Know Your Site: Before finalizing a location, thoroughly understand your site. Assess the impact of the sun, water issues, zoning restrictions, and neighboring properties. Conduct these analyses on both sunny and rainy days, and if possible, observe the site in different seasons.

3. Form Your Wish List After Assessing the Site: It’s wise to delay creating a wish list until you have a clear understanding of what your site can accommodate. Avoid trying to fit too much into a space or developing requirements that conflict with the site’s characteristics.

4. Plan for the Future: Even if you don’t build for the future immediately, consider how future needs might impact your design.

5. Limitations as Features: Many techniques for altering sites were either too costly or non-existent in the past. Embrace the site’s limitations as opportunities to create something special. With creativity and effort, what might initially seem like a restriction could become a defining feature of your home.

6. Hire a Skilled Architect: Choose an architect with a proven ability to create exceptional designs, regardless of the challenges presented by the site.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of this series, which will provide some helpful hints on planning. We welcome you to check out our portfolio and to reach out to us with new project inquiries at info@vanderhornarchitects.com.

Helpful Hints for Timeless Homes, Part 1: Selecting a Property

Welcome to our new blog series, “Helpful Hints for Timeless Homes,” where we cover all of the little things that make the difference between a generic house and a VanderHorn Architects home that will age gracefully and avoid the pitfalls that seem to be all too common with new construction.

Part 1: Selecting a Property

Before one can even begin to think about designing a custom home, or embellishing an existing home with all the right details, the property on which it sits must be selected and purchased. With each passing year, this becomes an increasingly difficult task. Our home market of Greenwich, CT and the surrounding area has a very tight real estate market with less and less unbuilt land available. The lots available also tend to decrease in quality as time passes, leaving buyers to get creative with challenging properties or look at demolishing less desirable existing homes. The environment of the past few years has exacerbated all of those challenges to boot.

Despite a difficult lot, adjacency to coastal flood zones, and a challenging program, our New England Shingle project suits its site perfectly.

Chances are you already have your mind set on a particular town, but if you’re not sure, one initial question to ask your architect and/or attorney is: “How difficult is it to get anything built in ___?”

Depending on the town, you may have to deal with an “alphabet soup” of boards and commissions: an architectural review committee, wetlands and/or coastal review boards, conservation commissions, planning boards, zoning boards of appeal, etcetera. Your municipal building department will need to sign off on the final design and they may or may not be supportive of your goals. Needless to say, if you’re considering a town that is notoriously difficult, a good architect can make a meaningful difference in how smooth the approvals process runs.

Assuming that you have a town or two in mind and a few properties to choose from, the key things to keep in mind as you make your final decision can be summed up as: Existing Conditions, Zoning, and Water.

An aerial look at our Classical Revival design

Existing Conditions

When you acquire any piece of property, you’re naturally dealing with what’s on the surface, but how well do you know what’s underground? A few questions to consider include:

Is the ground solid enough to be built on?
Is it all firm, well-draining soil that lends itself to deep, dry basement, or is there ledge or a high water table present?
What utilities are available on the site?
Are there lovely trees or plantings present and are they healthy?
Can the siting of the new home or the important views be affected by future builds?
Is the home vulnerable to changing environmental conditions?

Then there is the question of what to do with the existing buildings on the property, a subject that merits serious consideration. Chances are, your preferred lot already has a building (or two) on it, and the possibilities for salvaging it/them are greater than typically thought. For instance, it might be worth integrating an old cottage, or considering the renovation or absorption of an old home rather than leveling it.

For example, our Waterfront French Normandy project incorporated the existing 1920’s home into the new French Norman structure, blending them seamlessly together and inspiring the stonework for the rest of the build. Seen below, the wing added interest to the otherwise new home and reduced waste.

A look at our Waterfront French Normandy project, which shows the existing house in the foreground

Another example is our Delaware Valley Colonial project, where a remuddled early 20^th century home was reduced down to its original size and kept on the property as a guest cottage. More design effort was required in both of these instances, but it was well worth it.

In addition to aesthetic and environmental benefits, there may even be zoning bonuses when applying the concept to your project.

Zoning

Every lot has setbacks on all sides and a height restriction. Additionally, most towns limit how much of your lot you can cover with buildings and hard surfaces such as paving (impervious area). Municipalities also generally have limitations on how many square feet your building(s) can be, otherwise known as a Floor Area Ratio. Less frequently, towns will require calculations for how many cubic feet your buildings may occupy – picture your buildings submerged in water and how much water they would displace.

Every town has their own set of requirements and their own special methods of calculating the limiting factors, making a firm grasp on the zoning codes critical.

As large as it is, our Contemporary Georgian home is situated to accommodate a matching secondary wing and connector to the right.

When thinking about your requirements with regard to legal limitations, think not just about what your requirements are for today, but what they will most likely be for the length of your planned occupancy. Having your future projects hamstrung by zoning limitations is never a pleasant pill to swallow.

Before designing any home, we undertake a full zoning analysis of our client’s property so that we know what the limitations are beforehand.

Water

Given the lengths that many people go to have their dream house at or near the water, this subject is quite important.

The question that needs to be considered first and foremost: Is the property in or near a flood zone? Chances are, if you’re building on waterfront property, or anywhere near it, the answer is yes. If you’re in a flood zone, it could impact whether you have a basement, how much the setbacks will increase, how many stories your house can have, and if your house is going to be on raised piles (stilts) or otherwise unusually high off the ground.

One clever way to work around water impediments is the Chateau Chenonceau. Most towns would probably frown on such a design today!

Sometimes, a clever site or house design can sidestep the worst of the flood regulations. For example, the owners of our Oceanfront Shingle project, pictured below, were fortunate to have a large enough portion of their property just high enough that they could forego raising their house on stilts with the right design.

Another example of mitigating coastal regulations is our Coastal Gambrel Shingle project. At the home, which is currently under construction, the flood zone delineation was such that by moving the house a few feet in one direction, and working with an existing foundation, the owners could have a full basement instead of stilts.

Even beyond visible water, it may be an impediment. One way to find out more about the property is to hire a civil engineer to dig “Test Pits” to analyze the underground conditions. Additionally, if you have an existing basemented building on your lot, it can be an excellent indicator of what you’re dealing with. The depth of the basement (or lack of one), water marks on the walls, odors, and other clues should all be observed and assessed.

To sum it up: Unless you’re on a high, gently sloping, and dry lot with well-draining soil, exercise increased vigilance or anticipate a few surprises.

Pictured above, our quintessential colonial Federal Revival project had one of the most difficult groundwater challenges we’ve encountered. Yet, it has a fully-finished basement, dry as can be with a top-of-the line foundation waterproofing system.

While water supply can be an issue in some areas, it’s rare and usually rectified at a fairly modest cost. Sewage disposal issues, on the other hand, are far harder to resolve, especially on waterfront properties. Over the years, we’ve dealt with a few that had failing septic systems. Without question, we recommend doing your homework when it comes to your property’s septic or sewer.

VHA has encountered a lot of almost impossible site conditions over the years, but the key word is almost. Every time we have been approached with a condition that others have said wasn’t possible to overcome, we have. It can take a lot of ingenuity, and sometimes a team of consultants and attorneys to help navigate, but some of our biggest challenges have lead to our best projects.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our “Helpful Hints for Timeless Homes” series, which will offer useful hints on how to locate your future home on your new property.

Relocating to the Suburbs? 5 Tips for Finding the Right Architect

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Connecticut has become a top suburban destination for people moving out of the Big Apple. With its close proximity to the city and suburban perks, many people have found themselves clamoring to secure a new residence in the area. The ever tempting opportunity to live in a larger home with a backyard space and strong sense of community has led to a boom in real estate sales, even while several other markets shrink nationally.

Even before COVID-19 became a reality, Connecticut was called home by many former New Yorkers. One study found that one third of new Connecticut residents in 2018 originated from New York.

An aerial view of our Greenwich Normandy project

Whether you’re considering building a new residence or renovating an older home in the suburbs, choosing the right team of professionals is crucial to creating the home of your dreams. With over 30 years of experience in residential design here at DVHA, we’re confident that we can provide sound advice to assist you in the design team hiring process. Follow our tips below for choosing an architect who perfectly suits your project’s needs.

5 Things to Look For When Hiring an Architect

1.) A diverse portfolio.

To be certain the architect you choose can design a home suitable to your needs and desired aesthetic, look for a firm that presents a diverse portfolio, showcasing a mastery of design in a variety of styles.

Our Waterfront French Eclectic home

2.) Proof of success on projects of various scales.

In addition to finding an architect that can accommodate whichever style home you envision, it’s also important that the firm demonstrates its ability to successfully coordinate new and renovated projects of any scale. No matter the size of the home you’re planning, the architect should be able to execute the project to your satisfaction.

Our Classical Revival project

3.) Experience with local governments and town building requirements.

There are many quirks to the local building departments that unfamiliar architects struggle with, particularly in Fairfield and Westchester Counties. Find an architect who has experience working in the town you’re looking to move to and knows exactly what needs to be done.

4.) Robust references.

When you meet with an architect – or any home design professional for that matter – don’t just take their word for it. Make sure that the firm can provide strong references that attest to a positive design and construction experience.

Our recently completed Oceanfront Shingle

5.) Strong relationships with other professional consultants.

Successfully building a new home or renovating an existing home requires a team of professional consultants, from architects and builders to engineers. Our clients often enlist the services of interior designers and landscape architects to create the home they’ve been envisioning. Finding an architect that has great relationships with other home design consultants and is able to connect you with experts that suit your needs will make your project considerably easier to execute.

Interested in learning more about working with us? Contact our team to schedule a consultation today.

If you’d like to see some of our renovation projects, read our article about three of our favorite renovations or visit our renovations portfolio page.