When we talk about aging in place, the conversation often centers around accessibility: wider doorways, fewer stairs, first-floor living, and other accommodations that allow someone to remain comfortably in their home as they grow older. While these considerations are important, we believe designing a home for longevity goes much further.
A truly timeless home should be able to evolve alongside the people who live within it.
For our clients, that can mean designing a residence that accommodates young children today, welcomes adult children home decades from now, supports aging parents, prioritizes health and wellness, and ultimately allows the homeowners themselves to age comfortably in place. It is not simply about designing for later in life. It is about considering how a family may live in a home for the next 30, 40, or even 50 years.
Functional Floor Plans Designed for Every Stage of Life
One of the most important aspects of luxury aging-in-place design is creating a functional plan that supports accessibility. We consider how spaces, circulation, entrances, bathrooms, and everyday functions may need to adapt over time. Our role as architects and interior designers is then to solve those needs beautifully. Accessibility should feel inherent to the architecture rather than something that has been added later.
A first-floor primary suite, generous circulation, an elevator, minimal thresholds, thoughtful lighting, appropriately designed bathrooms, and seamless indoor-outdoor transitions can all make a home easier to navigate as its owners age. When these elements are incorporated from the beginning of the architectural design process, they simply feel like part of a comfortable, gracious home.
The Rise of Multigenerational Living
Multigenerational home design is increasingly becoming part of conversations with our clients, both for full-time and part-time living. In some families, aging parents may eventually join the household. In others, homeowners want their grown children and grandchildren to have a place to return to for extended visits.
There is another circumstance that is particularly important: families with adult children who may not be able to live independently. For these families, thoughtful residential design can provide a grown child with a sense of independence and privacy while maintaining proximity to the family. A private suite, apartment, guesthouse, or connected living space can create autonomy without isolation.
Designing these spaces from the outset allows them to feel intentional and integrated into the architecture of the home rather than like an accommodation made later.
Designing Differently for Every Stage of Family Life
A home intended to serve a family for 50 years requires us to think far beyond the client’s needs at the moment we begin designing it. And there is no single definition of a “forever home.” Designing a long-term home for a couple raising young children is very different from designing one for clients whose children are already adults.
A young family may need to consider how nurseries become bedrooms, how children’s spaces evolve as they become teenagers, and eventually how the home functions once those children leave—and potentially return with families of their own.
Clients with grown children may instead be thinking about creating private guest suites for extended family visits, comfortable gathering spaces for holidays, accommodations for grandchildren, or separate spaces that allow multiple generations to spend significant time together without sacrificing privacy.
Good residential architecture anticipates these transitions rather than designing exclusively around a single moment in a family’s life.
What Does It Mean to Design a Forever Home?
A forever home should not simply accommodate aging. It should accommodate change.
Children grow up. Adult children return. Parents age. Careers evolve. Mobility changes. Families expand. Priorities shift.
The role of thoughtful architecture is to anticipate as many of those changes as possible without allowing them to dictate the beauty of the home. At Purple Cherry Architecture & Interiors, we believe successful aging-in-place and multigenerational home design begins with understanding not only how our clients live today, but how they may want to live decades from now.
By Cathy Purple Cherry, AIA, LEED AP | Founding Principal, Purple Cherry Architecture & Interiors
One of the most common questions I hear as a custom residential architect is, “Should we renovate our home or tear it down and build a new one?”
Whether clients are planning a luxury home renovation, considering a complete custom home rebuild, or evaluating the long-term value of their property, the answer is rarely simple. After more than four decades of designing custom homes throughout Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay region, and beyond, I have found that the decision almost always comes down to three primary considerations: budget, the existing home’s condition, and the extent of change the homeowners envision.
1. Start With Your Investment Goals
Assuming the property is not protected by a historic designation or located within a historic district, the first consideration is financial.
Throughout the Northeast, the cost of building a luxury custom home typically ranges from approximately $800 to more than $2,000 per square foot, depending on the level of craftsmanship, architectural detailing, materials, and construction complexity.
That benchmark provides an important point of reference when deciding whether to renovate or rebuild. If a homeowner’s investment goal falls well below the cost of new construction, a thoughtfully planned renovation is often the logical path. However, this is where expectations and reality frequently diverge.
Many homeowners envision a renovation that transforms nearly every aspect of their home within a budget that realistically supports only a portion of those changes.
One of the most valuable roles an architect plays is helping clients align their vision with their investment. That means prioritizing what matters most, identifying creative design solutions, and finding opportunities that deliver the greatest impact without unnecessary expense. Sometimes that means refining the scope of work. Other times it means recognizing that the investment must evolve to achieve the desired outcome. Thoughtful planning early in the design process almost always prevents costly surprises during construction.
2. Evaluate the Existing Home—Not Just Its Appearance
The second consideration is the house itself.
Older homes often possess remarkable architectural character, but they can also conceal decades of structural, mechanical, and functional challenges. A home built in the 1920s, for example, may rest on pier foundations, contain outdated framing methods, or have floor plans that no longer support the way today’s families live and entertain.
As a renovation becomes more extensive—requiring structural reinforcement, relocating plumbing and mechanical systems, updating electrical infrastructure, and rebuilding significant portions of the home—the economics begin to shift. At a certain point, a tear-down and rebuild can actually become the more efficient and cost-effective solution.
There comes a point where reconstructing walls is simpler than repeatedly cutting, patching, and reinforcing existing ones. When nearly every wall requires intervention, the project has often evolved into a new home constrained by an aging shell. Unless a homeowner has a deep appreciation for preserving the historical fabric of the house, rebuilding may ultimately provide greater value, better performance, and significantly more design flexibility.
3. Consider How You Really Want to Live
The final test is one I often conduct while simply walking through a home with my clients. I begin asking a series of questions:
Is nearly every room changing function?
Are most of the windows moving?
Is the staircase being relocated?
Are the majority of plumbing fixtures changing locations?
Are you comfortable with the existing 8-foot ceiling heights?
When the answer to most—or all—of these questions is yes, the renovation has effectively become a new home wrapped inside an old shell. At that point, rebuilding often provides:
Greater architectural freedom
Better structural performance
Improved energy efficiency
More opportunities for natural light
Better indoor-outdoor connections
A floor plan designed specifically for today’s lifestyle
Greater long-term value
Perhaps most surprisingly, it can also become the more economical path.
Historic Homes Require a Different Conversation
Historic homes deserve their own category. Having personally restored and lived in a home listed on the National Register of Historic Places, I understand firsthand that historic restoration often exceeds the cost of building a new custom home.
The motivation is rarely financial.
Instead, it comes from a passion for preserving history, craftsmanship, and architectural legacy. In some situations, historic tax credits and preservation incentives can help offset a portion of the investment, but these projects should always be approached with realistic expectations.
Renovate or Rebuild? There’s No Universal Answer
Every home—and every family—is different. The right decision depends on your property, your lifestyle, your long-term goals, and the experience you want your home to provide. Sometimes a carefully planned renovation allows homeowners to preserve the character they love while modernizing the spaces they use every day. Other times, designing a completely new custom home creates opportunities that simply cannot be achieved within the limitations of an existing structure.
Neither approach is inherently better. The best solution is the one that creates a home that supports the way you want to live while making a thoughtful long-term investment in your property.
At Purple Cherry Architecture & Interiors, every project begins by understanding those goals before determining whether a luxury home renovation or a completely new custom home is the right path forward. Because whether we are preserving a home’s history or designing something entirely new, our purpose remains the same: creating homes that are timeless, functional, deeply personal, and beautifully tailored to the families who live in them.
By Cathy Purple Cherry, AIA, LEED AP Founding Principal, Purple Cherry Architecture & Interiors
When people think about luxury home design, they often imagine grand gestures—a sweeping staircase, a dramatic vaulted ceiling, or an elegant chandelier that immediately captures your attention. Those elements certainly create memorable first impressions.
But after decades of designing custom homes, I’ve learned that it is often the smaller architectural and interior design decisions that homeowners appreciate the most. These thoughtful details quietly improve the way a home functions, enhance everyday living, and create a sense of craftsmanship that never goes out of style.
The beauty of these design elements is that many can be incorporated into both new custom homes and luxury home renovations. Individually, each decision may seem modest. Together, they create homes that feel more refined, more intentional, and ultimately more timeless.
The Dutch Door: Practical, Charming, and Timeless
The Dutch door is one of those architectural features that has remained relevant for centuries because it is equally practical and beautiful.
Originally popularized in Holland and the earliest American colonies, Dutch doors allowed fresh air and natural light into the home while keeping children, pets, and livestock safely separated.
Today, we often incorporate Dutch doors into luxury homes at mudrooms, laundry rooms, pool houses, or secondary entrances where homeowners want visual connection without unrestricted access. They also present wonderful opportunities to introduce personality through bold paint colors, reclaimed wood, rustic finishes, or elegant fluted detailing.
Bring More Natural Light Inside
Natural light remains one of the most valuable features in residential architecture. Many front entries include sidelights—vertical glass panels positioned beside the front door—to brighten the foyer.
One design detail I particularly enjoy is extending those sidelights by adding an additional panel to each side. Double sidelights dramatically increase daylight, strengthen the connection between indoors and outdoors, and make the entry feel more open and welcoming without changing the home’s footprint.
Add Texture to Create Depth
Luxury interiors are rarely defined by color alone.
Texture adds richness, warmth, and visual depth that paint simply cannot achieve.
Whether through beadboard, wood paneling, decorative molding, wallpaper, natural stone, or handcrafted tile, textured surfaces create layers that make a room feel more intimate while adding architectural character.
It’s a subtle design decision that often has an outsized impact.
Deep Cased Openings Add Architectural Presence
A cased opening connects two rooms without the use of a door, helping spaces flow naturally while maintaining architectural definition.
Although cased openings come in many sizes, increasing their depth creates an entirely different experience.
Deeper openings emphasize wall thickness, frame important views between rooms, and provide opportunities to introduce custom millwork or paneling that elevates the home’s craftsmanship.
These details are often what distinguish a truly custom home from a builder-grade residence.
Why Architects Love Casement Windows
When clients ask how to maximize beautiful views, one of my favorite recommendations is the casement window.
Unlike double-hung windows, casement windows eliminate the horizontal sash that interrupts the view, allowing for larger uninterrupted sightlines and increased natural light.
Because they crank outward, they’re also much easier to operate above kitchen counters, bathroom vanities, or built-in furniture where lifting a traditional window would be inconvenient.
They’re a wonderful example of beauty and functionality working together.
A Softer Approach to Dark Windows
Dark window frames have become increasingly popular in luxury residential architecture because they create striking contrast and naturally draw the eye.
However, not every home benefits from fully dark window frames.
A more understated approach is painting only the window muntins—the vertical and horizontal grid elements—a darker color while keeping the primary frame light.
The result is elegant contrast that enhances the architecture without overpowering the surrounding interior palette.
The Shower Niche: Small Detail, Big Luxury
Few bathroom features improve everyday living more than a thoughtfully designed recessed shower niche.
Instead of relying on hanging caddies or bulky corner shelves, a recessed niche keeps toiletries organized while maintaining clean sightlines throughout the shower.
Although it’s a relatively small design decision, it contributes significantly to creating the spa-like atmosphere many homeowners desire in a luxury primary bathroom.
The Power of a Monochromatic Color Palette
One of my favorite interior design techniques is using a monochromatic paint palette in secondary spaces such as powder rooms, home offices, laundry rooms, and mudrooms.
Painting walls, trim, and even ceilings the same color creates an enveloping experience that feels warm, intimate, and sophisticated.
To keep the room visually interesting, vary the sheen rather than the color.
I often recommend:
Matte or flat paint on walls
Satin or semi-gloss on trim
Higher-gloss paint on the ceiling to softly reflect natural light
The result is layered and elegant without introducing additional colors.
Pocket Doors Create More Usable Space
Every square foot matters.
Traditional swinging doors require clearance that can limit furniture placement and reduce usable wall space.
Pocket doors slide neatly into the wall, making them ideal for bathrooms, laundry rooms, home offices, closets, and other compact spaces.
Beyond their practical benefits, pocket doors improve circulation and create greater flexibility between adjoining rooms—particularly in homes designed for modern living.
Thoughtful Details Create Timeless Homes
One of the greatest misconceptions about luxury home design is that it depends entirely on grand architectural gestures. In reality, the homes that stand the test of time are often defined by hundreds of thoughtful decisions that work together seamlessly.
A deeper doorway. A better window. More natural light. Carefully considered paint palette.
These details may seem small on their own, but collectively they shape how a home looks, functions, and feels every single day.
Whether you’re planning a custom home, embarking on a luxury renovation, or simply looking for ways to elevate your existing home, thoughtful architectural details often deliver the greatest long-term value.
As Vincent van Gogh famously observed,
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”
That sentiment perfectly captures the essence of timeless residential design.
Some landscapes naturally become the heart of a home. Whether it’s a quiet waterfront shoreline, a mountain ridge, rolling countryside, or a wooded retreat, the surrounding environment often serves as the emotional centerpiece of the architecture. As an architect, my role is never to compete with that beauty, but rather to elevate it—to frame it thoughtfully and create a home that feels inseparable from its setting.
Over the course of my career, I’ve had the privilege of designing luxury custom homes in extraordinary locations across the country. While every property presents its own opportunities and challenges, one principle remains constant: the most successful homes feel deeply connected to their surroundings and authentically tailored to the people who live there. That connection is what makes a luxury home timeless—not simply its architectural style or curated materials, but the way it responds to the land, embraces the views, supports everyday living, and reflects the lifestyle of its homeowners.
Building a Luxury Residential Design Practice Rooted in Purpose
I founded Purple Cherry Architecture & Interiors in Annapolis, Maryland, more than 30 years ago with a simple but ambitious goal: to create homes that are timeless, functional, and deeply personal. What began as a boutique architecture firm has grown into a multi-office practice with a team of more than 40 professionals specializing in luxury residential architecture, luxury interior design, custom home design, renovations, and whole-home design.
Today, our work spans the East Coast and beyond, with projects ranging from waterfront estates and mountain retreats to historic renovations, coastal homes, and modern family residences. While our footprint has expanded, our philosophy has never changed. Every project begins by listening carefully—understanding how our clients truly live—and translating that into a home that feels intuitive, functional, and beautifully crafted.
One of the defining strengths of our firm is our integrated design approach. By bringing architecture, interior design, and furnishings together under one roof, we’re able to create a cohesive vision from the earliest concepts through the final finishing touches. This holistic process allows every decision—from entertaining spaces and outdoor living environments to home libraries, wellness spaces, back kitchens, and everyday gathering areas—to work together as one thoughtfully designed experience.
What Makes Our Design Process Different
Over time, I’ve come to believe that exceptional architecture is as much about process as it is about creativity.
Our team utilizes advanced 3D modeling, visualization technology, and Revit-based design development to create highly detailed digital models that allow homeowners to truly experience their custom home before construction begins. This technology isn’t simply about presentation—it’s about collaboration. When clients can walk through their future home virtually, they make more confident decisions, resulting in architecture that feels even more personal and intentional.
Equally important is our focus on how a home will actually be lived in.
Rather than designing around a particular architectural style, we begin by asking questions about daily life. How does the family gather? Where do they retreat for quiet? How do they entertain? How will the home evolve over the next twenty or thirty years? These conversations influence everything from overall floor plans and circulation to the smallest architectural details.
Many homeowners today are also planning for the future. Whether that means designing for multigenerational living, incorporating universal design principles, improving accessibility, or creating spaces that comfortably support aging in place, thoughtful planning often allows families to remain in the homes they love for decades.
And of course, there’s the site itself.
The landscape is never simply a backdrop. It becomes one of the primary design partners throughout the architectural process.
Designing Around the View: A More Thoughtful Approach
One of the most common requests we hear is:
“We want to maximize the view.”
While that instinct is understandable, I often encourage clients to think about it differently. Great architecture isn’t created by simply adding more glass. It’s created through intention—carefully considering how each space connects to the surrounding landscape.
Create a Hierarchy of Views
Not every room needs to compete for the same panoramic vista.
Some of the most successful custom homes prioritize signature views from primary living spaces such as the great room, kitchen, dining room, and primary suite, while allowing secondary spaces to focus on privacy, gardens, courtyards, or intimate moments within the landscape. This thoughtful hierarchy creates moments of surprise while allowing the home’s most important spaces to fully celebrate their surroundings.
Balance Views with Comfort and Performance
Extraordinary views often introduce equally significant design challenges.
Solar heat gain, glare, privacy, seasonal changes, and energy efficiency all influence how a home performs throughout the year. Thoughtful architectural strategies—including roof overhangs, building orientation, strategic window placement, shading devices, and high-performance glazing—help create homes that remain comfortable while preserving the connection to the outdoors.
Understanding the movement of natural light is equally important.
Morning sunlight streaming into an east-facing bedroom may be perfect for an early riser, while someone who enjoys sleeping later may prefer a quieter western bedroom paired with a kitchen that welcomes the first light of day. Likewise, homeowners who cherish sunsets often position porches, terraces, outdoor dining areas, and gathering spaces to capture evening light across the landscape.
These decisions may seem subtle, but together they dramatically shape how a home feels every single day.
Design the Experience, Not Just the Destination
One of my favorite architectural strategies is creating a sense of arrival.
Sometimes the landscape is revealed immediately upon entering the home. Other times, we intentionally guide visitors through a sequence of thoughtfully proportioned spaces before opening to an unforgettable view. That carefully choreographed moment of discovery often creates an emotional experience every bit as memorable as the landscape itself.
Architecture should tell a story—and sometimes the best stories unfold gradually.
Extend Living Beyond the Walls
In many of our homes, outdoor living is just as important as the interiors.
Covered porches, terraces, loggias, outdoor kitchens, fire features, screened rooms, and thoughtfully designed entertaining spaces become natural extensions of the architecture, allowing homeowners to fully immerse themselves in their surroundings while expanding how they gather, relax, and connect with family and friends.
The transition between indoors and outdoors should feel effortless, creating a seamless relationship between architecture, interior design, and landscape design.
Embrace Site Challenges as Design Opportunities
Every exceptional property presents unique constraints.
Waterfront homes may require shoreline regulations. Mountain properties introduce grading challenges. Historic neighborhoods often involve architectural review boards. Sloping sites demand creative structural solutions.
Rather than viewing these limitations as obstacles, I’ve always seen them as opportunities. Thoughtful site-responsive architecture often produces the most innovative, refined, and memorable homes because every design decision is made with greater purpose.
Consider Every View—Inside and Out
If a swimming pool is part of the vision, its placement becomes another important architectural decision.
A pool positioned directly behind the home naturally becomes a visual focal point from interior living spaces. During warmer months, sparkling water complements the landscape while encouraging outdoor living and allowing parents to easily supervise children during family gatherings.
During winter months, however, a covered pool creates an entirely different visual experience. Some homeowners instead prefer locating the pool farther from the main living spaces, allowing gardens, terraces, specimen trees, or thoughtfully designed landscape architecture to remain the year-round focal point.
Every exterior element contributes to the home’s overall composition—and every view deserves equal consideration.
A Home That Belongs to Its Landscape
For me, architecture has always been about far more than designing beautiful buildings.
It’s about shaping experiences.
At Purple Cherry Architecture & Interiors, we believe exceptional luxury homes begin with understanding both the people who will live there and the land on which they’ll build. From the earliest conversations about a property through architecture, interior design, furnishings, and the final finishing details, our goal is always the same: to create homes that feel timeless, deeply personal, and intrinsically connected to their surroundings.
Whether we’re designing a waterfront retreat, a mountain residence, a country estate, or a modern family home, we strive to create architecture and interiors that celebrate the view while enriching the lives of those who experience it every day.
By Brian Milbury, Director of Architectural Design
When imagining a traditional pool house, one might envision a practical little structure comprised of a small bathroom or changing room, pool equipment storage, and perhaps a covered seating area. Historically, the pool house served a purely utilitarian purpose, making it one of the least exciting structures on a property.
Today, however, the pool house has evolved into something entirely different. In luxury residential architecture, it has become a destination in its own right—a thoughtfully designed extension of the home that serves as the central hub of outdoor living, entertaining, and recreation. More than simply supporting the pool, today’s pool houses create a true four-season lifestyle experience that enhances how homeowners enjoy their property.
While modern pool houses continue to meet practical needs, they now offer an impressive range of amenities that rival those found inside the main residence. Indoor and outdoor lounge spaces centered around stone fireplaces invite year-round gathering, while conditioned interiors with expansive folding glass walls blur the line between indoors and outdoors. Full kitchens and dining areas comfortably accommodate everything from casual lunches after a swim to elegant farm-to-table dinners with family and friends.
Outdoor kitchens have also become an essential component of luxury pool house design. Gourmet grilling stations frequently include built-in grills, pizza ovens, ceramic smokers, refrigeration, beverage centers, and generous prep space, allowing homeowners to prepare meals without ever leaving the outdoor living area. Adjacent fire pits, covered terraces, and full-service bars—whether designed with the warmth of a rustic barn or the sophistication of a contemporary sports lounge—create inviting spaces that encourage guests to linger well into the evening.
For many homeowners, the modern pool house has become far more than an entertaining space. Depending on a family’s lifestyle, it may also include game rooms with pool or ping pong tables, home gyms, golf simulators, wellness spaces, guest suites, home offices, or flexible gathering rooms. Beyond the structure itself, thoughtfully planned outdoor amenities such as bocce ball courts, pickleball courts, croquet lawns, putting greens, playgrounds, and garden spaces further transform the backyard into a private resort designed for every generation.
The beauty of today’s pool house lies not only in how it functions but also in how it is designed to endure. Luxury outdoor living spaces require materials that perform beautifully while standing up to the elements. Durable natural stone and porcelain tile flooring, weather-resistant cabinetry, Sunbrella® performance fabrics, and thoughtfully selected outdoor furnishings allow these spaces to withstand sun, rain, wet bathing suits, sandy feet, muddy paws, and everyday family life with remarkably little maintenance.
Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of a pool house is that it naturally shifts the messier moments of outdoor living away from the more delicate interiors of the main home. Children can come and go without worrying about dripping water through the house. Dogs can race in from the yard. Friends can gather around the bar after an afternoon by the pool. And yes, you don’t have to disinvite that one guest after yet another unfortunate red wine incident.
Creating a destination experience within your own property through the design of a multifunctional pool house can completely transform the way you live, entertain, and experience your home. A thoughtfully designed structure becomes more than an accessory building—it creates an entirely new destination with its own architectural character, unique views of the surrounding landscape, and seamless indoor-outdoor living opportunities throughout the year.
Even during cooler months, a pool house continues to earn its place. Fireplaces, radiant heating, enclosed lounge spaces, and flexible gathering areas allow homeowners to enjoy the space long after swimming season has ended, making it an extension of the home rather than a seasonal amenity.
So, when dreaming about your future custom home or planning a luxury home renovation, don’t overlook the possibilities of a thoughtfully designed pool house. Whether your vision includes entertaining on a grand scale, creating memorable family experiences, or simply carving out a peaceful retreat within your own backyard, a well-designed pool house has the ability to transform how you live on your property throughout all four seasons.
And perhaps the best part?
You don’t even need the pool.
About the Author
Brian Milbury, Associate
Brian Milbury has practiced custom residential architecture for nearly 30 years, designing distinctive luxury homes and private residences throughout the United States. Before joining Purple Cherry Architecture & Interiors, he owned a Chicago-based architecture practice for two decades, overseeing every aspect of custom home design and residential construction.
A graduate of the University of Miami with a degree in Architecture, Brian enjoys the creative challenges of designing one-of-a-kind homes tailored to each client’s lifestyle. His work is guided by a deep appreciation for scale, proportion, architectural precedent, and, above all, understanding each homeowner’s unique vision.
By: Carmine Cafiero, AIA, NCARB, WELLap, Managing Principal
Simple is rarely easy. There is almost always an underlying effort required to create architectural designs that feel understated, peaceful, and effortless. Ironically, the greatest successes in residential architecture are often the ones that go unnoticed. The quiet decisions—the careful proportions, thoughtful alignments, and intentional restraint—are what allow a home to simply feel right.
Designing with simplicity is the active pursuit of creating calmness within a home’s organization, functionality, and emotional experience. It is not about removing complexity for the sake of minimalism. Rather, it is about creating balance—a balance that feels natural rather than rigid, expressive rather than restrained, and timeless rather than trend-driven.
In luxury custom home design, simplicity is rarely defined by a particular architectural style. Whether designing a traditional estate, a coastal retreat, a mountain residence, or a contemporary home, simplicity is always contextual. It is centered on clarity, cohesion, and the thoughtful relationship between architecture, interior design, and the surrounding landscape.
Creating that sense of calm requires many different design strategies. Sometimes it is found through symmetry. Other times it comes from repetition, rhythm, or the intentional breaking of a pattern to create emphasis. Simplicity does not necessarily mean unadorned or absent of detail, nor does it suggest excessive ornamentation.
It is not purely about form, nor purely about function. The most successful homes balance both, allowing every architectural decision to contribute to a unified experience.
It all sounds very serious—and to us, it is. But designing in these terms is equally enjoyable because it asks us to question every move we make. Burrowing down to uncover the true essence of a space, a family’s lifestyle, or an architectural idea is one of the most rewarding parts of the design process. There is something deeply satisfying about editing away distractions until what remains feels honest, intentional, and lasting.
So how do we create homes that achieve calmness through balance?
It begins with the land.
One of the first and most important decisions in custom residential architecture is identifying the right homesite on a property. More often than not, the defining factor is the view. We place tremendous importance on site planning because a home’s relationship to its landscape shapes how we experience architecture every single day.
Whether overlooking the waterfront, rolling farmland, dense woodland, or distant mountains, a thoughtfully sited home strengthens our connection to place. It changes the way we arrive home, the way we move through our surroundings, and the way we experience the changing light, weather, and seasons. It creates moments of excitement as we return, curiosity as we explore, and comfort as we settle in.
Those experiences matter.
Architecture has the ability to deepen our appreciation for the natural world while simultaneously offering refuge from it. In many ways, this reflects the principles of biophilic design—the idea that meaningful connections between people and nature contribute to well-being, comfort, and a greater sense of belonging.
Life presents us with an endless spectrum of emotions, experiences, and responsibilities. It can often feel wonderfully chaotic. As architects, our purpose is to help create places that bring clarity to that complexity—to discover the calm within the storm.
Ironically, sometimes embracing the storm itself becomes part of the answer.
It may be watching weather roll across the water from a covered porch. It may be enjoying morning coffee as the sun rises over the mountains. It may simply be watching children or grandchildren run through an open meadow after an afternoon of play.
Whatever form those moments take, we believe the orientation of our homes often helps us rediscover our own sense of orientation. Sometimes architecture simply reminds us where we are—and where we want to be.
Alongside this emotional pursuit is one rooted in logic.
Architects naturally search for order. We seek clean lines, thoughtful sequences, and meaningful relationships between spaces. We carefully study how rooms connect to one another, how circulation unfolds, and how each transition contributes to the overall experience of a home.
We continually refine those spaces, searching for balanced proportions, centered compositions, rhythmic spacing, and carefully positioned openings that frame views and invite natural light deep into the home. Every adjustment—whether conceptual, such as the proportions of architectural volumes, or highly detailed, such as the placement of windows and doors on a façade—contributes to the larger composition.
The highest compliment we ever receive is wonderfully simple:
“This just feels right.”
That response tells us the architecture is doing exactly what it should. It feels intuitive rather than forced. Comfortable rather than complicated.
The final expression of simplicity comes through the thoughtful selection of materials and finishes.
The most successful homes present a unified architectural story, one that flows seamlessly from the exterior to the interior. When a home’s architectural character changes abruptly upon entering, the experience can feel disconnected. Instead, we strive to create continuity through carefully coordinated materials, colors, textures, proportions, and forms.
This holistic approach allows architecture and interior design to support one another, reinforcing the home’s identity at every step—from the first glimpse down the drive, to approaching the front door, to experiencing each interior space beyond.
Ultimately, simplicity in design is not about creating less.
It is about creating greater clarity.
By connecting thoughtful site planning, intentional architecture, carefully proportioned spaces, natural light, meaningful views, timeless materials, and cohesive interior design, we create homes that become more than beautiful places to live. They become places that restore us.
Places that offer respite from busy lives.
Places we look forward to returning to.
Places that quietly invite us to pause, take a deep breath, and simply say…
“Ahhhhh.”
About the Author
Carmine Cafiero, Associate, AIA, NCARB, WELL AP
Carmine Cafiero believes that exceptional residential architecture begins with listening. Every successful custom home is the product of thoughtful collaboration, clear communication, and a deep understanding of how each client wants to live.
Drawing on his education from the University of Virginia School of Architecture and Virginia Tech School of Architecture + Design, Carmine combines traditional architectural principles with expertise in hand sketching, virtual reality visualization, Building Information Modeling (BIM), and wellness-focused design. His multidisciplinary approach transforms each client’s vision into thoughtfully crafted homes supported by comprehensive construction documentation and a timeless architectural foundation.
Tell us about yourself. I am originally from the suburbs of Baltimore, splitting my summers between the Delaware beaches and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I grew up surrounded by family heirlooms and and my mother’s exuberant flair for maximalism, where “more is more” was never enough! I have a love of bright colors and patterns and strive to bring the same joy into each of my projects.
Tell us about your design journey. How did you get started and how did you get here? After earning a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design from The Art Institute, I took an internship at a small boutique firm in Baltimore where I was inspired by the historic homes of Roland Park, the preservation of their unique qualities, and the endeavor to be true to their traditional origins.
From there, I held roles in the merchandising of showrooms and retail stores and ultimately transitioned to a corporate role, designing for a high-end furniture and fabric vendor. It was during this time that I fell in love with the design process and couldn’t get enough of it! Being surrounded by luxury textiles, avant-garde wallpaper, and more furniture frames to select from than I knew what to do with, I realized my passion was for residential design, where I could bring my knowledge of pattern layering, mixing of scale, and love of color to my clients’ homes.
How would you describe your design ethos? More is more, is more!
Alex’s Maximalism mood board illustrates the design aesthetic she enjoys in her own home.
How do you work with a client to define their needs? What questions do you ask to determine the final look and feel of a space? I first want to understand how my clients plan to use each space – do they love to entertain? Or do they enjoy spending time with family conversing or gathering around a large screen to watch the game? How do they live their daily life, are they the type of family that wants to snuggle with their pet on the sofa, or are they lovers of red wine? These are all aspects that will inform how furniture should be laid out, the size and scale of each piece, and the fabric selections.
I am a firm believer that it is so important to balance comfort with design details. Although I enjoy encouraging my clients to go above and beyond in their design decisions, I want to make sure that they are not afraid to actually use the space either.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received, either personally or professionally? Life if not a dress rehearsal. You have to work hard for what you want, go after your dreams, and learn from your mistakes.
What inspires you? Everything inspires me… it could be an outfit of someone walking down the street, the décor of a beautiful restaurant, the way the light hits the side of a building, or a piece of artwork from a local artist.
Which design “rule” or idea do you refer to over and over? There are no rules. Design a space that makes you happy and that you want to live in everyday! I make an effort to design each space specifically to the needs of the client, balancing design and function. Each space should feel curated, lived in, and welcoming – just like your favorite pair of denim. To achieve this feeling, I like to balance the new with the old.
Any tried-and-true design advice? You can never have too many pieces of “legged” furniture in a space, and always watch the size and scale of your furniture!
Alex’s Hunt Country vision board showcases the rustic sophistication many of our clients seek in their mountain or horse farm properties.
In your opinion, what’s the one thing that will never go out of style? I truly think that blue and white décor will never go out of style. Think blue and white ginger jars, a classic navy blue sofa, and the crispness of fresh white linens. Blue and white have been a staple in the design industry for years and will continue to be for years to come. This aesthetic does not fit a “trend” that will stamp in time when a space was designed, but rather will always be classic and timeless.
What are five things you can’t live without right now? Dirty martinis, my poodle puppy Jonathan, my monthly subscription to Elle Décor and Veranda, my iPad, and the smell of the air just before it snows.
