10/02/2026
This is my house. I love it. I also hate it a little.
We built it to look like my father-in-law’s childhood home. To save money, we went with a great deal on the architect. It went exactly the way good deals usually go. The big shapes made it onto paper, but the details never did, and the details are what make a house feel right.
A lot of you have been here. You’ve sat on this porch and eaten at our table, and my family has grown up inside these walls. It’s cozy, it’s full of memories, and I’d still pick it every time.
Six years and a lot of houses later, here’s what I can’t unsee:
The windows with no muntins, like holes punched in the wall.
The questionably larger cornice, bigger than the house can carry, way out of proportion.
The porch columns, plain posts set under the beam instead of holding it up - no capital.
The conservatory on the roof, a a half story taller than it needed to be.
Brick, board and batten, stucco paneling … how many kinds of siding? We got carried away.
We missed the point, which is proportion and purpose.
What I got right is the bones: one strong central mass, a brick stair tower full of light, and a porch deep enough to actually live on.
This house taught me that details are where the money belongs. It’s why we spend so much time on design before anyone picks up a hammer. Every mistake on this house is one we won’t make on yours.
Six years later, we still haven’t burned it down.
📸 Austin Green
