Home Forevermore
Timeless architecture combines historically appropriate designs and environmental influences for classically romantic results.
Artful & Authentic Architecture.
This classic cottage kitchen opens into the family room. “Its vintage beams echo the trusses of the family room, and the wide-plank antique floorboards extend throughout the house,” Ahearn writes. Wainscoting appears throughout as well, enhancing a timelessly elegant appeal. It is through the process of renovation or restoration and redesign that
most of us come to call our house a home. Our sense of place and comfort is created through the intimate, personalized touches that we add to a house. Drawing on your natural environment and home's history can create a cohesive design that lasts a lifetime and creates a place for you to live and thrive.
Acclaimed architect Patrick Ahearn has made this philosophy his benchmark. Ahearn's love for design actually began with a love for automobiles.
Luckily for design fans his passion morphed into a love for architecture, and what carried over was an immaculate attention to scale, proportion and light.
In his latest project, Ahearn takes us on a tour of his 45-year career through his book, Timeless: Classic American Architecture for Contemporary Living. Offering images and insight into his Edgartown projects and New England designs, Ahearn delves into historic renovation and restoration. Use Ahearn's best tips to learn how to balance your indoor and outdoor spaces, blending the influence of your natural environment with classic architecture—whether it be Colonial, Georgian, Victorian or anything in between.
CAREFUL INNOVATION: PRESERVATION & RENOVATION
Houses that are protected as landmarks require delicate considerations and ingenuity to find solutions. “Renovation and expansion of landmarks must proceed with a heightened sensitivity to and awareness of the home's existing architectural elements, scale and proportions, as well as those of the surrounding landscape,” Ahearn writes.
Balancing regulations, authenticity and modern requirements is a handful, but Ahearn's extensive knowledge proves up to the challenge. In the village of Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard, Ahearn tackled several such projects. When renovating a Colonial-style structure known as the John Coffin House, Ahearn took inspiration from the 1890s to recreate a historically accurate design. The shingle exterior features dark shutters, white window trim and a matching white portico. The portico—the roof above the door that is supported by columns—is larger than its original, but reflects the antiquated style of the original.
Reviving a home's exterior using original materials whenever possible is one of Ahearn's favorite missions. He considers everything from the siding, roof, windows, doors and even fencing materials to make these homes era-appropriate.