Residential Waterfront

Halpern Architects understands how to truly "frame the views",  protect the homeowners' privacy and address the challenges presented by the maze of restrictive regulations for Waterfront Homes

      
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       Foyer                                                     Sunroom

       



       Living room 1                                  Living room 2



  
     
     Kitchen/ Breakfast Nook                  Powder Room

 
Prairie Style Residence

For the owners of this Harness Creek Residence the best way to redesign an outdated split-level home was to totally alter the character of the house -- a Prairie style house with extensive use of brick and shingle was the perfect fit. It has the "horizontality" that allows the owners a close connection to the outside. Extensive use of carefully placed windows provide the best view of the water while maintaining privacy.

The owners considered this home a retirement house with the children almost out of the house.  Floor space was designed to provide maximum flexibility. Halpern Architects achieved this by merging the living room, family room, and sun rooms into one large living space.  A Custom set of doors strategically situated create separate spaces as desired.

Celia Pearson Photography
Rhonda Kaplan Interior






 

             
              


                            Front of home  

Olmert Residence
The Olmert Residence is an example of seamlessly integrating passive solar design principles into a waterfront vernacular home. Careful siting captured the broad panoramic viewshed while individual rooms focused on specific significant elements of the view.

With careful design and planning Halpern Architects placed windows for optimal panoramic viewing and to minimize heating and cooling costs. The major living spaces, located on the south side of the house, are a single room deep which allows for summer breezes and winter solar heating. All of the major support functions for the house were placed on the north side and are tucked into trees in order to act as a buffer from north winds. Deciduous trees were retained to provide seasonal shading and provide the home with additional privacy in summer.

The interior the house is a blend of traditional elements and proportions used to augment modern spaces.

The Olmerts have the best of all worlds, a passive solar home that is energy and cost efficient and a beautiful panoramic waterview.

Celia Pearson Photography