A white-on-white palette can look its best in low-angle, winter, morning light. Here clapboards provide a ruled backdrop to trim elements of different depths and profiles that create pleasing accents. Wide corner boards rise to elegant classical capitals which visually support a tall band of frieze trim beneath an overhanging eave cornice. Thick casings and deep sills punctuate each window, while modest crown moldings cap those on the first floor. An off-center entry portico adds a touch of drama. Each crisp, white element works in concert to create a formidable façade.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

The winter waterfront is especially appealing to those of us with a taste for pristine simplicity. Here empty finger piers and classic New England shingled work and recreational sheds reach into the chilly harbor. The modest buildings and marching piles quietly await the summer bustle of boat and foot traffic. We can see deep into the stark harborside framework that’s designed to support summer life, much the same way we can see through the branches of winter trees without leaves. It’s an intriguing seasonal perspective.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

We often ask a lot of our kitchens. Many serve as a command-center of sorts, in addition to providing a place to prepare and share meals. The corner of this one, designed by architect Dann Batting of New Hampshire, offers a second clean-up sink, a computer desk area, cook book storage, and a view to die for. It’s the multi-tasker’s dream.

We can’t all look out to sea while searching online for recipes, but we can consider translating the kitchen-corner-desk design concept to our homes. Maybe your windows would face the backyard or kitchen garden. Either way they’d offer a pleasing view and welcome abundant light from two directions. Maybe they’d be casement windows instead of double-hungs. Maybe you’d have more open storage or less. Maybe you’d swap out some of the finishes. It wouldn’t be difficult to make it your own. That’s the test of a fundamentally good design model.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

Thanks to my distant Norwegian roots, I prize winter. I find the colors of the winter landscape inviting. Where some see drab tones, I see hearty siennas, rich umbers, and irresistible, pungent reds. Even grays delight me: pale grays, shadow grays, warm grays. Next time you’re on a cold-weather hike take a close look at the variety within nature’s winter palette. There’s plenty there to inspire a soothing palette for your home.

by Katie Hutchison for the House Enthusiast

At the Peabody Essex Museum until February 24, 2008

I learned of Samuel McIntire after moving to Marblehead years ago. Rumor had it that the mantel in the Federal Style home that we were renting was a McIntire original. I became intrigued by his work. When we moved to Salem, McIntire’s buildings seemed to pop up everywhere. There’s a reason for that; according to the exhibit, McIntire was responsible for the design of more than 50 public buildings, churches, and private residences in Salem between 1780 and 1811. We have him to thank for many of Salem’s most elegant neoclassical structures.

It was my interest in him as an architect that led me to the Peabody Essex Museum. The exhibit includes a sampling of his original architectural drawings. I was particularly fascinated by the entry he submitted to the 1792 international design competition for the U.S. Capital in Washington, D.C. He would have been 35 or so at the time, an impressive age to be vying for so significant a commission. President Washington rejected his entry along with 16 others. Fortunately, McIntire would have plenty of other successes.

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