Journal
Notes from the studio
Long-form writing on craft, materials, process, and the craft of building well. Written by the architects + builders who do the work.
Recent essays
2026
On site reading
Why every meaningful design decision starts with reading the site honestly. Light, water, prevailing wind, mature trees, neighbor sightlines — and what each tells you about where the building wants to sit. — May 2026 · 14 min read · James Hartwell
Lime plaster, again
We’ve been using lime plaster for 27 years. Recent revival of interest gets some things wrong. A practical essay on when lime is right, when it’s wrong, and what the next decade looks like for the material. — April 2026 · 11 min read · Eleanor Wong
Why we don’t bid against four other builders
Selecting builder by lowest bid is a procurement model designed for commodity construction. It produces commodity construction. Custom architectural work needs a different selection model. — March 2026 · 9 min read · Margaret Liu
The discipline of the punch list
Every project ends with a punch list. The discipline of reading it is what separates competent builders from great ones. How we run our punch process, and what we look for when we’re not the ones building. — February 2026 · 8 min read · David Chen
On materials
Selected longform
White cedar shingles · a working understanding
Why white cedar is the right shingle for most New England buildings. Longevity expectations, treatment options, sourcing constraints, weathering patterns. — January 2026 · 12 min read
Stone, sourced honestly
How to source stone in a way that respects both the building and the quarry. The economics + ethics of stone procurement at the residential scale. — December 2025 · 9 min read
On hand-fit timber framing
What hand-fit framing actually means in 2025. The trade-offs vs. CNC framing. When each is right. — November 2025 · 14 min read
Metals at the building scale
Copper, zinc, lead, weathering steel — when each is appropriate, how each ages, what the lifecycle costs look like. — October 2025 · 10 min read
On process
How buildings get built
Why pre-construction matters more than construction
If construction is going badly, the cause is almost always something that happened (or didn’t happen) during pre-construction. — Sep 2025 · 11 min read
Owner walkthroughs every two weeks
How we structure on-site owner walkthroughs and why the cadence matters. — Aug 2025 · 7 min read
Working with out-of-region architects
The clean collaboration model we use with architects we don’t share an office with. — Jul 2025 · 8 min read
Reading construction documents critically
How to read CDs the way a builder reads them. What to look for, what to question, what to value. — Jun 2025 · 13 min read
On care
What happens after move-in
Stewardship beyond the warranty
Why we maintain relationships with past clients indefinitely. The economics + ethics of long-term stewardship. — May 2025 · 9 min read
Annual rhythm of a finished house
What to do with a custom home month by month. Spring, summer, fall, winter — what to inspect, what to maintain, what to plan. — April 2025 · 12 min read
Aging in place by design
How we think about future-proofing for aging-in-place from the design phase. Not retrofits — choices made early. — March 2025 · 10 min read
Maintenance budgets people actually keep
Realistic annual maintenance budgets for custom homes. The numbers most builders don’t talk about. — February 2025 · 8 min read
Journal questions
What people ask
- James Hartwell, Eleanor Wong, David Chen, Margaret Liu, and other senior team members. Most essays are written by the person who did the work. We don’t outsource writing.