Notes from
the studio.
Field notes · materials sourcing · envelope detailing · annual-checkup observations · design conversations. Written by Henry, Margaret, or an occasional guest. Roughly monthly · published when the work warrants it · no SEO, no funnel, no affiliate links.
- JNL-2026-05MAY 2026FIELD NOTES
On budget transparency. and the live spreadsheet.
BY HENRY WHITTAKER“Our budget tracker is shared with the client from week 1. Allowances tracked weekly. Surprises are bad business; we engineer them out. The discipline this imposes on our estimating is the point.”
14 MIN READRead entry › - JNL-2026-04APR 2026PRACTICE
Why we cap at 12 houses. the constraint that defines us.
BY HENRY WHITTAKER“We could take 24 a year. We don't. The constraint is what makes the lead-carpenter model possible — and what keeps the standard you'd expect from a 21-year-old studio. Here's the math.”
18 MIN READRead entry › - JNL-2026-03MAR 2026MATERIALS
Reclaimed chestnut · sourced from. barn frames in upstate NY.
BY MARGARET REYES“The chestnut on Hudson Stone Farmhouse came from three barns we dismantled in 2019 — 21. We mill, kiln-dry, and stack the boards in our Cambridge yard. Five years of stickering before any of it sees a project.”
12 MIN READRead entry › - JNL-2026-02FEB 2026ENVELOPE
Airtight envelope on a 1820s frame. the Hudson Valley test case.
BY HENRY WHITTAKER“Period houses have a particular envelope problem. We've been refining a sympathetic-airtight detail for ten years. The Hudson Stone Farmhouse is the cleanest version yet; here's the assembly.”
22 MIN READRead entry › - JNL-2026-01JAN 2026STEWARD
Year-five at Marblehead. what the annual checkup found.
BY MARGARET REYES“We came back to Marblehead Coastal at the 5-year mark. Cedar shake performing as expected. Standing-seam copper unsurprising. Two minor punch items found and resolved within the week. The annual checkup pays for itself by year three.”
10 MIN READRead entry › - JNL-2025-11NOV 2025DESIGN
On rooms that want morning light. and rooms that don't.
BY HENRY WHITTAKER“Discovery conversations always begin with how the household lives — not what they want built. Where do you read in the morning? Where do you take a phone call? The answers shape the program more than any wish list.”
16 MIN READRead entry ›
