It all started as minor mystery that compelled me to look further into the history of our home—and town. While our home was listed as being built in 1897, the accompanying historical document had a term of 1893. What was the real date…and how would I find out? And while I was at it, how did…

Well, here we are in mid-August, pretty much at the half-way point. Mostly, we’re feeling like old pros at that construction stuff; we are able to navigate through the many decisions and are enjoying the highs of the TOH experience. While we have many time-sensitive decisions and sleepless nig…

When we first started looking at our home, it took us a lot of date to figure out how to navigate through the complicated layout. It was easy to get disoriented within floors, staircases, rooms and directions. And with four floors, including the basement, there’s a good 50 feet amoung the top and …

When our home was built in 1897, the front was for socializing, hence the large, wrap-around porch, or veranda. Initially, we have been focused on transforming the back yard by building a deck, patio and terraced yard. However, we have become increasingly enamored with the front veranda—in f…

photo: Russell Kaye

We feel we’ve come up with a great design for our landscape through the diligent efforts of our site designer, Stephanie Hubbard (SiteCreative), in collaboration with Roger Cook. Starting with a sloping back yard, the heavy lifting has focused on the design of a patio, and…

photos: Anthony Tieuli

One of the central areas of our home will be the family room, which was the dining room in the original configuration of the home. Technically, that room will be accessible from five locations, so flow is urgent.

Equally crucial is how we furnish the room so that it wor…

photo by Anthony Tieuli

Now that the walls have fallen and construction is starting in earnest, we are beginning to feel the pressure to produce some smaller, but key decisions.

In the billiard room we need to figure out where a flat screen TV might go so we can nail down where our lights go….