Mat and Jim Whidden spoke to a full house and were a hit at the Traditional Building Show! They presented their seminar to a crowd of architects, engineers, contractors, home-owners, and historic preservation planners. Originally the seminar had 50 people signed up to attend, before the seminar even began over 120 people packed in to hear Old House Restoration: How to do it the right way. By the end there was standing room only!

Three new dates have been added to the Old House Restoration tour. The Boxford Town Libraries has invited Mat and Jim to present. They are expecting over 100 attendees. Look for them in February of 2009. Ipswich has also invited Mat and Jim back, they were a hit at the Library and now the Historical Society wants them to present there as well. Mat and Jim might also be presenting in Marblehead in the near future!

Ocean Front Shingle Style Addition
We are about to begin Construction Drawings for our amazing design of this Ocean Front Shingle Style addition. This beautiful addition is composed of a 3 car garage with a pool cabana above. This project may turn into a redesigning of the entire house to match the new shingle style addition.

New Bar in Pool Cabana
Another great project in West Newbury, MA coming to fruition! All Construction is the builder on this project.

New Family Room in Pool Cabana
This is a beautiful “pool cabana” addition which consists of a bar, game room, family room and a laundry/bath area.

Front Elevation
This project is almost complete, right now they are currently deciding on the exterior paint color, we really like the dark green!

Pool Elevation
The new in-ground pool, landscaping and patios are being installed right now!

Ocean Side Elevation
Our beautifully designed New Ocean Front Home in Wells, Maine is almost done! All Construction is also the builder on this project.

Entry Side Elevation
The wrap around porch and purposely placed windows take full advantage of the ocean vistas. The foundation below the porch and house were specially designed to allow the ocean waves to roll under the house.

Master Bedroom w/ Ocean Views
The master bedroom has vaulted ceilings and wrap around windows which allows panoramic views of the sea and sky from the comfort of your bed.

The deep paneled transition between the living room and kitchen is arched to reflect the gentle curves throughout the home. If you are curious about seeing more of the interior or exterior give the office a call or send us an e-mail!

We've begun several sets of plans for projects this Spring. One example is the restoration of a historic Greek Style townhouse in downtown Newburyport. Stay tuned for an 'after' photo! There's also increased interest in projects for families needing additional space designed with artistic flair, some historic restoration and preservation possibilities, and even a new home.

New staff member, Liam Cummings, is seen working with his father Mathew. On his third day of experience as a 'part timer' he's already reviewing drawings for an interior of a first period fireplace. Liam is unhappy with the current design and he has found many improvements to restore the fireplace to its original glory!

Melissa reviews a set of construction plans for correctness for a project in Beverly. Melissa has been a great asset to our firm. One of her assets is her devotion to every one of our clients schedule for completion. If you drive past our office in downtown Ipswich you will often see the lights on because Melissa is burning the midnight oil.

Restoration Mason Richard Irons explains how they are reusing the original clay mortar to re-build the Capt. Sutton House’s first period fireplace. The original clay is removed during the deconstruction process and saved, if there is not enough of the original clay then other antique clay is added to the mix.

First, the clay is pulverized using very high tech equipment – a 2"x4".

Next the clay is sifted to separate the fine particles from particles that need further pulverization.

After adding water the clay is ready to be used and will last another 300 years.

Architect Mathew Cummings working with Jim Widden, woodwright, erects the first posts on the 1725 Captain Sutton house, located in downtown Ipswich, MA on Water Street.

Architect Mathew Cummings “foots” the post on the 1725 Captain Sutton house for Jim Widden's guys, then he climbs on top of the unfinished addition to help make small adjustments to the post.

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