I nearly missed last week’s New York Times article by Julie Scelfo about the transformation of the Grey Gardens property. Sally Quinn, the writer, and her husband Benjamin C. Bradlee, former executive editor of The Washington Post, acquired the derelict East Hampton, NY manse and overgrown grounds in 1979. Today, the surrounding lush gardens by Victoria Fensterer are breathtaking, as both the Times article and images will attest. Unfortunately, pictures of the resuscitated 10-bedroom dwelling (c. 1897) are not featured, but exquisite black and white before shots set the scene for what must have been a Herculean home-improvement project.

You may have noticed Grey Gardens much in the news lately, thanks to the recent airing of a new HBO Films production titled Grey Gardens based on the 1975 Maysles brothers’ documentary also titled Grey Gardens. There’s even a Grey Gardens book coming out in May, 2009, and there was a 2006-2007 acclaimed Broadway musical inspired by the same story. Both films, the musical, and the book feature Edith Bouvier Beale, known as Big Edie, and her daughter Little Edie who were, respectively, aunt and cousin to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. Despite lives among New York’s high society in the late 30’s, by the 70's the Beales were isolated on their East Hampton estate, living in squalor among cats and raccoons. It’s this bizarre later phase that the Maylses captured with cinéma-vérité. In 1976 the Times published an interesting review of the uncomfortable documentary. The story of Grey Gardens has what Malcolm Gladwell might call the stickiness factor. It continues to capture our attention and imagination.

The re-imagined gardens further tap into the property's mystique. In the Times recent piece, Nora Ephron, a friend to Quinn and Bradlee, says of the grounds, “…I’ve never seen a picture of it that ever conveyed how amazing it is because, in some way, it’s a sort of a distant cousin to the wildness that was there when the Bradlees bought the house.” It sounds and looks like it’s full of enticing, exuberant vignettes. There’s even a little thatched-roof vintage cottage out back. How I’d love to see that featured in detail.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Considering the dismal state of the housing market, it’s nice to see that there’s a coalition proposing a solution; it's the Fix Housing First Coalition. On the FHF website, Jerry Howard, President and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, describes how we should and can fix housing first.

Howard notes that housing is the largest sector of the economy, and that with its collapse, it’s brought down two other sectors, the financial sector and the manufacturing sector. Howard argues that fixing housing first will help fix the other sectors. He sees a clear housing solution: “Stimulate the demand side; stabilize the supply side, and you have the sure fix.”

The Fix Housing First Coalition proposes non-refundable, short-term tax credits for all home buyers, plus below-market, 30-year fixed mortgages (available for a limited time), and continued foreclosure prevention. Visit the website to learn more.

FHF link by way of David Andreozzi via The Congress of Residential Architects

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

Have you seen the so-bad-it’s-good infomercial for the Snuggie? It’s a blanket with sleeves designed for winter, couch slackers. Well, if the Passive House Institute U.S. has its way, there’ll be no market for Snuggies. Last Friday’s New York Times shares the latest in mechanically ventilated, super-insulated, air-tight construction, known as the “passive house,” which will keep you toasty without a conventional furnace. Made popular in Germany by the Passivehaus Institut, it’s a concept slowly finding its way to the States.

The Times reports, “Decades ago, attempts at creating solar-heated homes failed, because of stagnant air and mold. But new passive houses use an ingenious central ventilation system. The warm air going out passes side by side with clean, cold air coming in, exchanging heat with 90 percent efficiency.”

If you visit the Passive House Institute U.S. website you can view a few sample “passive houses” built in the U.S. One, constructed in 2002/2003, features walls insulated with 12 inches of blown-in fiberglass plus 4 inches of exterior rigid polystyrene. The roof of that same building is insulated with 16 inches of blown-in fiberglass. The concrete slab is insulated with 14 inches of expanded polystyrene and the foundation perimeter is insulated with 6 inches of expanded polystyrene. Wow. It also features triple-glazed windows.

The Passive House Institute U.S. estimates that a “passive house” requires an approximately 10 percent additional upfront investment. It may be more depending on location and building design. As the Times article notes, “Compact shapes are simpler to seal, while sprawling homes are difficult to insulate and heat…Most passive houses allow about 500 square feet per person, a comfortable though not expansive living space.”

Until “passive houses” catch on here, the folks at Snuggie needn’t worry.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

It sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it? But let’s face it; Modernism is a style, and, as such, significant Modern structures warrant preservation as much as important structures built in more commonly recognized historic styles like Greek Revival, Federal, or Georgian. Jaci Conry writes in the Globe that five Modern cottages in Wellfleet are en route to preservation thanks in large part to the efforts of Peter McMahon, an architect and executive director of the recently formed Cape Cod Modern House Trust.

The cottages, among 115 other homes, were built on land later assigned to the Cape Cod National Seashore when it was created in 1961. The National Park Service obtained the properties by eminent domain, offering their previous owners lifetime use of them or 25-year leases. Once empty, the five Wellfleet cottages fell into disrepair. They were slated for demolition in the late 90’s. Then times and attitudes changed. McMahon is now arranging to lease the properties from the Park Service through the Cape Cod Modern House Trust in order to preserve them. McMahon's organization plans on restoring the Gips House, designed by Charles Zehnder, first with hopes of opening it this summer to the public for tours, among other activities.

According to the Globe article, David Fixler president of DOCOMOMO/US New England, another non-profit engaged in preserving Modernism, said, “The cottages were built very cheaply and close to nature. They spoke to a wonderful way of life…”

McMahon is quoted in the piece saying, “There’s a lot to learn from these houses.” I don’t doubt it. I look forward to visiting them one day.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

RISD President John Maeda talks with Jeff Stein in the November/December 2008 “Hybrid” issue of ArchitectureBoston, a BSA publication. I keep mentioning Maeda, because he keeps making pithy observations. For instance, he tells Stein, “In the field of architecture, the real challenge is how our world of data has changed how we live. Architecture in the future is going to engage much more psychology, much more anthropology, much more of the human condition, and much more of the liberal arts perspective, because the act of living has become a lot more personal.” I imagine that’s why I wanted to become an architect in the first place.

Later in the interview Stein asks Maeda what he means by “humanizing technology.” Maeda says, “Some people say the best solution is high tech; some people say no, go low tech. I believe that the best solution is always less tech. Just enough, which is not usually considered an option.” How true. As someone who enjoys the world-wide web for the connections between people and ideas that technology fosters, but who still draws and drafts by hand, for both the pleasure and freedom craft allows, I’m a long-time believer in less tech.

Towards the end of the interview, Maeda emphasizes the importance of relationships. He says, “I think what has to be designed is what’s been designed forever, which is relationships: between people, between people and their objects, between people and their past…I look at the whole design question as encompassing the design of you own life.” That sounds refreshingly human.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast