Ultra Contemporary is Yesterday’s News.

Modern and minimalist, the edgy contemporary home Bob and Barbara built in the 70s reflected the times—and the young couple’s tastes. But after three decades, these empty nesters felt the pull of a softer, gentler design era, so they decided to celebrate the next phase of their lives surrounded by Old World tradition. With its stone exterior and sumptuous, warm interiors, their new home could not be a more radical departure from their former dwelling.

A Very Modern Attitude

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference,” said Winston Churchill, no doubt referring to both individuals and their interiors. Living proof of Winnie’s wisdom: Donna Mackinley, a divorced mother of two whose altered perspective enabled her to challenge the limits of old boundaries — personal and architectural. Apropos to the start of her new post-divorce adventure, Mackinley wanted a fresh design reality that would transcend the confines of her typical suburban colonial as well as her own strict traditionalist roots.  “I was looking for something totally different, comfortable but not cluttered with yesterday’s life,” explains Mackinley. “I felt a new, more peaceful environment could help me grow in the way that I live and the way I experience where I live.” 

Reclaiming a Nation’s Past and a Family’s Present

Traumatized, they stood on the curb as their worldly possessions — and two decades of family history — went up in smoke. For Hope Comisky, her husband Jeff Braff and their three children, that chilly March night in 2006 might as well have been yesterday. “It was horrible, just horrible,” she recalls vividly. “We stood outside as they were throwing things out of the window and putting out the fire. I think actually watching it happen was the worst part.” Though most of the 19th century, Federal-style Center City home and its furnishings succumbed to either the ravages of the electrical fire, or the smoke and ensuing water damage, miraculously Comisky was able to salvage irreplaceable family scrapbooks. “They were up against a wall in one of my daughter’s rooms,” she says. “The fire had spread out toward that side of the room but somehow missed the area where she kept the scrapbooks.” Holding those precious mementos in her hand — and appreciating the fact that the house had been empty at the time of the blaze — she took a deep breath and said: “Okay, we will all survive this.”  

This House is a Very, Very, Very Fine House.  It’s All Part of a Rock and Roll Fantasy.
Rock and roll is here to stay. It will never die — surely not on Charlie Knott’s watch. Fueled by his passion for rock music and admiration for the legends that perform it, this investment manager by profession has applied his means to a very specific end: A totally customized Chester Springs dream house complete with a unique salute to his favorite superstars; his own personal rock and roll hall of fame. 

Downsizing is looking up

Gracious and spacious, Cheryl and David Bacharach’s Main Line adult home exudes positive energy; a tangible symbol of a new chapter in their lives.  Eagerly anticipating the adventures to come, this young-at-heart couple could not be happier--and their grandchildren who now live around the corner are pretty stoked too.  

Words to Design by British Aficionados in New Jersey. 

Aptly situated on a secluded, wooded peninsula, this suburban New Jersey property is indeed its own British Isle, a personalized hamlet that is--this above all--true to the passions of its owners; devout Anglophiles willing to scale Shakespearean heights for drama and authenticity.  After a painstaking design process that spanned nearly two decades, their home is an English country wonderland; precisely the three-dimensional work of art they had imagined. Yes, ‘twas much ado, but clearly about nothing less than the stuff that midsummer night’s dreams are made of.   

Architect Evokes Spirit of Famous Mentor to find the Light

Marlene wanted to wake up with golden tendrils of morning sunlight filtering softly into her bedroom.  A simple request for a simple pleasure – unless that bedroom happens to be in a high rise, tucked behind the living room, its eastern exposure blocked by the solid wall between the two spaces. 

Tiny Space Poses Huge Challenges

Once Michael saw the long driveway, he was more than willing to ignore the crumbling structure at the end of it. A property in the heart of Philadelphia’s Manayunk section with four cars worth of parking is a rare commodity – and it was precisely the slice of urban suburbia the Lancaster Country orthodontist required for his weekend retreat.