December 2018 – d o r i c s o u t h

Cool-Season Vegetables: How To Grow Kale

Kale has come into its own. It is a superfood, which means it’s emerging in all sort of foods, from main courses to energy shakes. This member of the cabbage family is also surprisingly simple to grow. Leaf colors range from chartreuse to crimson to blue-green and many other shades of green; its leaves are [...]

A Hillside Home 14 Years in the Making

Locating the ideal site was simple for architect Charles Debbas. Designing an equally ideal house to fit on it was a harder matter. Debbas didn’t want his new home, perched from the Oakland Hills across the bay from San Francisco, to feel alienated in the hillside. So he sank it to the plot, allowing for [...]

5 Best Ways to Win the Weed War

POOP. That’s what weeds are: Plants From Place. They find ideal places to reproduce and multiply, but these places have a tendency to be directly in the center of our flower beds, vegetable gardens or yards. Weeds not only wreak havoc with our well-planned designs, but they also compete with desirable plants for nutrients and [...]

Find Your Perfect Pool Shape

Creating a balanced silhouette is the crucial initial step in designing a pool that fits your home’s taste and enriches your garden. Spacing components, shape, scale and design are frequently used to complement what already exists on your own landscape. If you would like to learn why finding the right shape for your pool is [...]

10 Feminine Workspaces for Hardworking Girls

My daughter graduated from eighth grade and is on to her next phase of life — high school. I was cleaning her off before we left for our much-earned vacation to the beach. I briefly read over her papers, notes and to-do lists out of courses. She worked hard this year. She’s my small “working [...]

World-Class View at Manhattan Condo

The New York skyline is the boldest accessory within the house. This 24th-floor high rise in the West Chelsea area of Manhattan overlooks the town’s skyline, with views stretching out over the rest of the city. Designer Drew McGukin used this opinion as a background for the client’s contemporary soul. This was the client’s first [...]

If Architects Advertised

Most architects are not great at advertising. We are inclined to get work by doing amazing work for our customers and trusting they spread the word to others. We don’t usually promote our services. Actually, at one point it was considered unethical for architects to market, and also our regulating agencies formally forbid it. Architecture [...]

Open Canadian Bauhaus Home

Every aspect of this home’s layout was molded around views, slope and natural lighting, states Paul Whincup of Habitat Studio & Workshop. The homeowners, a couple with a college-age son, wanted a home which could be amusement friendly, using a distinct indoor-outdoor feel. And then they got it. See how sun, color and fun fill [...]

Diamond Muntins Help Windows Look Sharp

I like to design by the mantra “It’s all in the details” If or not a room has crown molding, a tile wall features an accent strip, or a window diamond muntins, I take notice. I have especially been in love with diagonal window muntins and grilles recently. A muntin is a strip of metal [...]

Garden Lessons from a Grand Northwest Reserve

The Bloedel Reserve is among America’s botanical paintings, a 150-acre land on Bainbridge Island, only a 30-minute ferry ride from Seattle’s waterfront. When you visit, bring a camera and a notebook (and wear comfortable walking shoes) so it is possible to document the many inspiring scenes, plants and garden vignettes created in the time Prentice [...]