S. Claire Conroy

2 weeks ago | residentialdesignmagazine.com | Caroline Hetzel |S. Claire Conroy

Design guidelines in ski communities tend to originate from nostalgic notions of mountain lodges—hefty timber structures, chunky stone foundations, and steeply pitched roofs. There were once practical reasons for many of these materials and motifs, but modern technologies and building products have liberated architects from strict adherence to the pattern book.

2 weeks ago | residentialdesignmagazine.com | Caroline Hetzel |S. Claire Conroy

Austin, Texas, only recently ceded its title as the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country. The boom carried it through more than a decade of building frenzy that is only now beginning to ease, but there is still considerable pressure to capture any building opportunity within the city’s desirable neighborhoods. Alterstudio is expert at plumbing the possibilities of these sites, most of which come with a flight of flaws.

4 weeks ago | residentialdesignmagazine.com | S. Claire Conroy |Rdaa Winners

The 2025 Residential Design Architecture Awards (RDAA) received more than 516 entries in 11 categories of residential design—a new record for our program. With such a large number of entries from the top firms in the country and abroad, the competition was fierce, and our judges had some very heavy lifting to do. Ultimately, they selected 32 projects for awards, including one Project of the Year, 7 Honor Awards, and 24 Citation Awards.

2 months ago | residentialdesignmagazine.com | Caroline Hetzel |S. Claire Conroy

It’s a weighty ask when your clients request a “legacy house,” one that will welcome multiple generations of family in spaces infused with cultural reference and meaning. “It’s meant to be a heritage house that honors our clients’ South Asian past,” says Scott Specht, AIA. “The challenge was not to become kitsch or directly referential.”Despite the project’s generous size—17,500 square feet on 2.6 acres—the clients’ program could have consumed “double” the space, says Scott.

Dec 4, 2024 | residentialdesignmagazine.com | Caroline Hetzel |S. Claire Conroy

Messana O’Rorke has completed enough renovations to know when clients are throwing good money after bad—and they’re not shy about conveying those hard truths. “We met with these clients at a property they owned previous to this, and they wanted to do a bunch of stuff,” Brian Messana, AIA, recalls. “We said it would not be worth it.”Undaunted, the clients returned sometime later with a new property—99 acres along the Hudson River—and a fresh assignment for the firm.