Click on this photo to see it in the KHS photo note cards/prints gallery.If you haven’t recently (or ever) visited Castle Hill on the Crane Estate in Ipswich, this is the weekend to do so.  The weather outlook is good, and there’s an Art Show & Sale in the Great House.  Visit this stunning Trustees of Reservations property to view more than 150 pieces of art which celebrate exquisite North Shore landscapes and landmarks.  Attend the Artists’ Reception on Friday, Nov. 6, 2009 from 5-7 pm or take in the show on Nov. 7 & 8 from 10 am–4 pm.  Click here for an earlier post I wrote singing the Crane Estate’s praises.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

A pleasing entry needn’t be grand. This one, on a favorite house, offers entry essentials with grace, ease, and comfort.

The integral shed roof, which extends from beneath dormer window sills, is just deep enough to provide shelter over a brick entry stoop.  White, wooden brackets and rafter tails modestly highlight the point of entrance.  Spare, white, wooden benches offer a place to rest a package or await a visitor.  High bench-backs double as guard rails and help frame the doorway.  Narrow sidelights provide a glimpse inside and of approaching guests outside.  The intimate scale is both personal and inviting. 

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3 (just like the street number here); provide shelter, a welcoming flourish, and a place to rest something or for someone to rest.  Enter and enjoy.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

I’m fascinated by overlaps, like where indoors and outdoors coincide, or public and private, or two uses.  An overlap can capture the allure of different conditions simultaneously.  Most of us are intrigued by outdoor rooms or interior courtyards, because they are neither completely outside nor completely inside.  We enjoy porches along sidewalks which invite homeowners and passersby to share space while remaining distinct.  We appreciate three-season rooms, between our houses and outbuildings, which act as sunrooms and storage, blending the uses associated with the building types they connect.  The fall season takes place in an overlap too.  It’s where summer and winter mingle at the periphery.  It’s a time for morning glories and pumpkins.  Revel in the overlap.  Happy Halloween.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Elevation by Katie Hutchison StudioDrawing Toward Home: Designs for Domestic Architecture from Historic New England is scheduled to be at the Boston University Art Gallery November 18, 2009 – January 17, 2010. This exhibit is on my must-see list.  It’s said to feature home design drawings from the late eighteenth through the twentieth centuries which depict a wide range of building types and styles.  Expect to peruse all manner of drawing types and styles too.  I imagine the bulk of the drawings are hand drawn.  I’ll report back if I learn that they’re publishing the collection.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

I’m partial to hipped gables.  My parents’ bungalow has them and so too does this c. 1890 work-building-turned-pottery-studio.  Hipped gables typically reduce the apparent height of end walls, keeping them from towering over passersby.  They lend an intimate scale, and the hip, which is almost forehead-like, helps suggest a familiar and friendly countenance.  Surely, whoever created the plaque to the left of the entrance was familiar with the truncated profile’s appeal.  Chamfered-edge shingles (which also recall the end-wall profile) above the door-head trim, and barn-style doors with integral windows, along with a complementary-color paint palette add to this building’s charm.  If a small child were to emerge from within and pause between the flag and hydrant, this slice of Americana might be worthy of Norman Rockwell.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast