I had the pleasure of serving on the jury for the Alice Washburn Award at the Connecticut chapter of the AIA (American Institute of Architects) last week. The award is co-sponsored by Connecticut Magazine and recognizes "the thoughtful and delightful adaptation of tradition to address 21st century needs" in houses and accessory buildings. It's named for Alice Washburn who designed numerous Colonial Revival-style houses in Connecticut near her Cheshire home in the 1920s. The 2015 award winner will be published in an upcoming issue of Connecticut Magazine, so I won't let the cat out of the bag. 

I was particularly taken by the breadth and quality of the submissions in the accessory-building category; there were some real charmers ranging from several small curiosities to a vast specialized structure. I'm not sure if the winner in the accessory-building category will be part of the Connecticut Magazine story, but if it isn't, I'll be sure to link to the winning accessory building here at House Enthusiast.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

This House Enthusiast visited a local summer camp yesterday to present an architecture workshop. My hope, of course, was to inspire future house enthusiasts in the joys of the creative process.

Twenty plus campers ranging in age from preschool to high school joined me in talking about what architecture is, what it's made out of, and what an architectural scale model is. Then, I introduced them to their project for the morning: to imagine a place to read and to construct a scale model of it out of sustainable materials that I provided.

Each camper received a brown goodie bag containing a 6" x 12" thin piece of cork, four wooden plant-labeling sticks, four bamboo toothpicks, and a 2" x 6" piece of moss ribbon. We talked about the properties of each material, including the brown paper bag, and what each might represent in their models. For the sake of scale, I suggested that the length of a plant-label stick represents eight feet in the real world, which amounts to 3/4"=1'-0" scale. And then the campers launched into design and construction of their imagined places to read.

Much of the fun for me was when I got to play the supportive Tim Gunn role and visit the campers mid process to discuss and occasionally advise them on next steps. Naturally, I was very impressed with the kids' resourcefulness and good will. Here are some of them with their creations, and some close-ups of their scale-models of a place to read.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Find the latest and greatest KHS fine-art photography portfolio here, and a teaser for the "housescapes" gallery below. (You can also find a link to the portfolio in the navigation bar on the right.)

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

House Enthusiasts interested in savoring the sight of New England vernacular buildings, landscapes, seascapes, and gardens all year might want to consider the new Katie Hutchison Studio (KHS) 2013 calendar. Drop by the KHS Lulu storefront to get a preview of the full-color photos on the 13.5" x 19" calendar. Cyber Monday is just around the corner; hint, hint.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast