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 ur approach to designing homes has matured over the years and can be distilled down to four major criteria. Each carries a similar weight in terms of importance to the overall success of each design project.
 BEAUTIFUL: Visually, the home must fit the owner's aesthetic sensibilities and fit into the environment in which it's being built.
COMFORTABLE: the home must contain the proper spaces in a comfortable orientation to the land, to the sun and to each other so that the home feels exceptionally good to live in.
FUNCTIONAL: Spaces in the home must work for the people and activities that take place there.
SUSTAINABLE: The home design must consider the climate and employ design techniques and material choices that minimize ecological impact by using renewable resources that also provide health benefits for the owners.
All of these elements flow from the design philosophy of "A Pattern Language" a book by Christopher Alexander. Visit the GREEN section of our site to learn all about the environmental aspects of our homes.
A PATTERN LANGUAGE
 A while back, a neighbor invited me over to see the (slow) progress he was making on his house remodeling. His day job had slowed his work, and he remarked that friends had kidded him that he could have built a new home in the time it had taken to redo this 1920's vintage home. "I know they're right," he said, "but a new home just wouldn't have the charm that this one has." He had a point. What is it about the "feel" of older homes that new homes lack today?
Christopher Alexander was struck by an indefinable quality in old, European homes and villages that is missing in today's contemporary architecture. What makes these places feel so inviting and comfortable? What are the architectural elements that make people naturally feel good? Why do people tend to gravitate to some places and not to others?
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