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Dream Homes
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Design Works Architecture is building a portfolio of storybook homes around the country. The owner of DWA is an architect, Chuck Smith, who brings 25 years of residential experience to his clients. Design Works Architecture has been successful delivering homes that have both a casual elegance and a "wow" impact as guests walk thru the front door.
Although our professional love is designing dream houses, our recreational preference remains playing hockey and snow skiing.
Give us a call and we'll arrange to meet you at your site to discuss how to plan a home that meets your specific budget and spatial needs while being comfortable and beautiful. Our clients tell us they feel like they are "on vacation" everyday in their new homes.
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click any image to enlarge
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Lake Homes
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1920's Great Camp
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Canandaigua Lake, New York
The large cedar shingled home will be a family retreat for multiple generations of this Rochester family for many years to come. With a bedroom for the parents, a guest bedroom, a bedroom for each of five married children and girl and boy bunkrooms, the house can comfortably accommodate a crowd for the holidays. The house is designed with multiple porches that both expand the living area and moderate the scale of the building. Its design details are borrowed from camps built almost 100 years ago. However, its systems and conveniences are contemporary including a geo-thermal hvac system.
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The Keuka Lake Gazebo
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Keuka Lake - East Bluff, New York
The home is bracketed by two important rooms desired by our clients; a two story gazebo to the north and a music studio on the south. In the middle is the "bird room" featuring French doors to a balcony. The man of the house is a Grateful Dead fan and amateur musician and the woman of the house enjoys her song birds. They both will enjoy the view while eating a meal in their screened gazebo.
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A Lakeside Home built for Entertaining
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Canandaigua Lake, New York
The symmetrical wings of this timbered home on Canandaigua Lake reach out to open views up and down the lake and form a sheltered lakeside outdoor living space.
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A Lake Cottage Surprise
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Finger Lakes, New York
From the street, this home is a quiet one and one half story cottage with a porch and doghouse dormers, designed to be a good neighbor to the small cottages found in the neighborhood. Upon entering, your attention is drawn through the home to a one and one half story glass window wall framing the lake. A diagonal view through the house to the hillside farm on the opposite side of Canandaigua Lake organizes the plan. A large reclaimed Douglas fir timber carrying beam traces the diagonal in the ceiling.
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A Lodge on Conesus Lake
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Town of Groveland, New York
A lot filled with mature evergreen trees inspired this wood detailed family lodge. The house is sheltered by a long gabled roof that reaches out to form porches on the lake and entry fronts. A two story segmented glass wall juts out to offer the timbered living room a view to the farms and hills to the southeast.
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Lake Side Pavilions
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Finger Lakes, New York
How does one tear down the little white clapboard lakeside cottage where you lived summer after summer, (around 25 in all), watching your children grow? This is the question faced by Pam and Winslow when contemplating building their dream home on the Canandaigua Lake site.
The cottage offered its coziness while the family played cards during rainy summer weekends. The bedrooms tucked in the roof were a bit warm on hot summer evenings but offered views to the lake through the branches of oak trees. It takes a strong will to replace a home full of memories.
We created a timber framed home that features cozy, hip ceiling pavilions on either side of a soaring great room. The two pavilions contain the kitchen and master bedroom. The great room offers a delicate frame of curving and tapered timbers that frame the view through the same oak trees to the lake.
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Finger Lakes Retreat
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Canandaigua, New York
Currently residing in the Virginia/Washington DC area, Gary and Diane often travel to Upstate New York to visit with family. The couple wanted a place to relax while away from the city and also have space for family and friends to come and stay. The home overlooks the lake and is complete with guest quarters in the walkout basement. This second home was designed with retirement in mind and will eventually become the couple's permanent residence.
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The Boat House
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Canandaigua, New York
The boat house is built alongside Canandaigua Lake in upstate New York. Built prior to the main house, the boat house will compliment the house architecturally and serve as its gatehouse, guest residence and lakeside bathhouse. ^ Back to top.
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AIA Award 2007
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Country Homes
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Country Homes
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Overlooking the Chesapeake Bay
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New Kent, Virginia
Elizabeth and Roger wanted a compact, environmentally friendly home on a river connected to the Bay. Crabs use the piles for the original plantation dock at the property shoreline. Use of recycled materials and traditional forms give the house a timeless style. It is very energy efficient and easy to cool as well as featuring a wrap around screen porch for plenty of ability to expand the living area to the outdoors.
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A Stone Guest House
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Garrison, New York
Our NYC clients have created a 3 bedroom pool & guest house in the Hudson Highlands. It will also act as the gate house to a future larger residence. The design story recalls the stone hunting lodges built in the early 1900's by New York City sportsmen.
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A Screen Porch to Live in
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Woodstock, New York
Mike and Jodi plan on spending many a summer day enjoying the forest views from their new home. The large screen porch connects the dining room and living room as well as continuing as an open porch to the guest room and a future pool.
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Shingle Style Home
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Mendon, New York
Mark and Marilyn created a cedar shingled home that balances traditional interior and exterior detail with an open floor plan. A timber framed great room anchors the public living space. The plan allows for smooth flow of guests during parties. There are no dead-ends between the great room, an open dining room, kitchen and an outdoor patio. Locally sourced wood was used in the trim, flooring and timbers to add warmth and character to the home.
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A Sun Worshipping Four Square
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Woodstock, New York
Doug and Shelly have carved a beautiful landscape out of a second growth forest site. In it sits a crisply shingled two story hip roof home that captures the sun by carving out the southeast corner of the house plan. In addition, a light monitor climbs above the roof to bring natural light into the second floor stair hall.
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Golf Side
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Loudon, Tennessee
Ted and Joan retired to a golf side lot in Southeastern Tennessee. Their home and garage are connected by a brick porch and timbered breezeway and form an east facing landscaped courtyard. The house is a concise 1600 sq. ft. first floor with a master bedroom. Extra bedrooms are found in the walkout lower level. The house is a hybrid timber frame. Ted enjoys sitting in the loft overlooking the timber framed great room.
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Arts and Crafts Home
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Pittsford, New York
Hidden among 150 new evergreens alongside a local golf course, our client created sophisticated lodge right in the heart of the Town of Pittsford. The interior of the home showcases fine woodworking inspired by the work in the 1920's by the architects, Greene & Greene and the Stickley furniture company.
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A Bachelor Pad
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Gorham, New York overlooking Canandaigua Lake
Bill built this steel sided house for one but with accommodations for entertaining. The house is one room; a timber framed cube with a bedroom loft. A small wing houses the laundry and bathrooms. The larger part of the structure is a two car garage and a large metal fabricating shop where Bill can pursue his hobbies. ^ Back to top.
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Mountain Homes
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Mountain Homes
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Holimont Ski House
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Ellicottville, New York
Steve wanted to build a ski home for his wife and four children at the same resort he spent his winters as a child. Faced with a typical narrow, steep and wooded lot, he engaged a few architects in a design competition looking for a solution and team he could work with. The chosen scheme tucks the garage at a half level between the walk out lower level and the main living level. A guest area, recreation room and ski room occupy the lower level. Separate boys and girls bunk houses are found above the garage a half level above the kitchen / living / master bedroom floor. The grey hemlock board and batten siding and as found barn timbered porches and brackets sheltering the entries blend with the bark of the surrounding trees.
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A Family Lodge
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Marbletown, New York overlooking the Catskill Mountains
The Brown Family is comprised of six families who pooled their energies to create a family retreat on a wooded hilltop far from the crowds of northern New Jersey. The timbered great room and large kitchen are comfortable for a crowd but there are plenty of nooks provided to get away with a book. The grandchildren have boys and girls dorm rooms far enough away from their parents' rooms to allow the occasional pillow fight.
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A Storybook Chalet
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Ellicottville, New York
Dan spent many a winter day skiing at Holimont as a kid. He and his wife, Kiki, want to continue that tradition for their five children. The new home is a chalet designed to feel like it was built 100 years ago in the Alps. ^ Back to top.
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Farms
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Farms
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Rural Horse Farm
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Knoxville, Tennessee
Ann called us after seeing a bank barn we designed in upstate New York. We designed a 36 foot by 36 foot bank barn fitted for three horses in the lower level and an artist studio above. After completing the barn, we designed a simple but elegant two story carpenter gothic farmhouse which featured its own cupola to compliment the barn. Both buildings are white board & batten with crisp detailing. The house interiors surprise with a sophisticated urban palette of material to contrast its timbered structure.
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A New Upstate New York Carpenter Gothic Farmhouse
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Rural Ogden, NY
Gordon and Carlene sculpted the land and forest to create an idyllic site for their new home. The exterior is inspired by the pattern book farmhouses scattered across upstate New York and the Midwest. The interior, however, surprises with an open floor plan and soaring timbered roof structure supported by tapered timber posts. ^ Back to top.
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Village Homes
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Traditional Village Homes
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A New Village Home for Empty Nesters
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Penfield, New York
Our clients downsized into 1,400 square feet of first floor living within walking distance of the Four Corners of Penfield. The cape style home offers two future bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs and further expansion to a walk-out lower level. ^ Back to top.
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See our current work
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Our In Progress page features brief descriptions of some current projects
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