To kick off my revamped website, I’d like to post an article I wrote several years ago for Builder/Architect Magazine, with minor changes to make it relevant today:

Our society has had the “bigger is better” mentality for a long time. Just go to any fast food joint and you’ll be asked, “Do you want to Super-Size your order for only thirty-nine cents more?” Many will say, “Sure!” because it’s such a good deal, even though nobody really needs to eat that much unless they’re playing tackle for the Chicago Bears. That’s sort of the way it has been with home construction, too…houses are larger than they were twenty years ago, even though families have been getting smaller.  Nobody knows if this trend will continue once we recover from the worst recession in my lifetime. But we had so much more disposable income than previous generations, and we felt the need to keep up with our neighbors, or it just seemed like such a good deal to add that second floor, even though we’d probably never use it! 

Now I don’t want to insult my clients that have perfectly good reasons for wanting an extra room, or think they deserve a little luxury after working so hard, if they can afford it. It just seems like our greedy society has been screaming at us to get the absolute greatest quantity for the money, without much thought about what it was doing to the quality of our lifestyle.

Architects and residential designers have always been concerned about the quality of spaces they design, and they have a hard time sacrificing that for just more floor area. For as long as I can remember, architects have advocated quality over size, and they often question the client’s need for such large spaces. Maybe folks will think twice about it now, especially since many of the houses out there which are sitting vacant are the so-called McMansions of years past. All those books about size vs. quality are still relevant, like The Not So Big House Series, by Sarah Susanka. 

The accompanying floor plans are of my own home of two thousand square feet, in which we raised our two boys. It’s a simple two-story, three-bedroom home with a loft, and a “look-out” basement I later finished off for the 52” TV and pool table. It’s all I could afford some twenty years ago while maintaining a certain level of character and quality that reflects my family and me. The nice thing is we used every inch of it, and it was the best house for us, for all those years. By the way, we finally sold it a few years back, only because we had an opportunity to purchase a house which I designed for a client about 25 years ago, definitley worth another story I’ll share with you one of these days.

Oh yeah, I still fall for the Super-Sized deal at the local burger joint though…

Also from a previous Builder/Architect Article:

I don’t need to tell you family life has changed from when we “boomers” grew up. Most of us remember mom at home, always in the kitchen, window over the sink so she could have the cookies and milk ready when we piled out of the school bus: a real Pleasantville! Today, families go in six different directions at once, the most used kitchen appliance is the microwave, and the eating bar serves just fine for the two or three people that sit down at the same time, even for dinner.

Some of us miss those simpler times…I’m sitting in my office, full of avocado green and harvest gold, though they’re not called that anymore, and my 24- year-old actually spent his Christmas break at home with the family! On the residential design front, the kitchen can still have its place as the center of activity.

My design for a local builder and his family of five truly brings the kitchen back as the hub of the house. It is more than just a kitchen: it is an effort to maintain family togetherness, and an attempt to use the whole house as intended. Many houses today are two-story walkouts, with pool or play areas at the lower level. Rooms and activities are so spread out we hardly know who’s there at the same time, and both designer and client struggle with how to marry outdoor activities to indoor functions. Most of the time the solution is to abandon that nice living room we just paid for on the first floor in favor of a lower level family room, because it’s closer to the action. And before you know it, the next logical thing to do is build a second kitchen down there (“it’s so convenient!”). If we could only get the garage down there now…

The solution placed a family-sized kitchen literally in the center, with gathering, sleeping, and utility “wings” radiating outward in opposing directions. Site conditions allowed us to borrow from another ‘60’s trend: the swimming pool and patio was placed mid-way between both levels, so that from outside it was just as easy to go up or down. This “trilevel” approach was further reinforced by creating a story-and-a-half high sun room at pool level, and is a pleasant surprise for all who enter. Not only is it a convenient place to view the summertime fun, but the in-floor heat draws one to this room even during the winter, and is the owner’s favorite place to come home and read the paper. The open railing between this room and kitchen/dining half a flight above allows for both open conversation and a commanding view of pool and play beyond, a strict requirement for mom to keep an eye on her kids. In the opposite direction, the small sitting area provides its own view away from the pool and opens onto a patio for the barbecue grille and a short-cut to the builder’s attached office and workshop beyond. It attracts family members with its comfortable seats, a small tv, and storage for lots of family games. Closer to the kitchen, an enlarged bill-paying desk, with enough space to hold two in front of the family computer, is tucked away from view to hide the inevitable clutter there. A walk-in sized pantry facing the kitchen provides plenty of storage for large family supplies.

The 20 x 30-foot kitchen/dining/sitting space is used all day long, all year round. Solid walls shield the space from prying eyes in the entry, yet is visually open to the gathering space around the corner, and is directly adjacent to the bedroom wing. A built-in china cabinet next to the sun room stairs matches the kitchen counter height and lends to the feeling of enclosure when seated for dinner. It is the only dining area in the house and the owner proudly reported that over 20 were seated comfortably for Christmas dinner, with only minor rearranging. When not in use for eating, the table doubles as a family gathering area for games and such.

Like any well-used house, there are plenty of other spaces to allow family members to get away from one another, or for when company comes calling. But day in and day out, you’ll find the heart of this family lives in the kitchen.