Whitten architects

Whitten Architects has thoughtfully designed this warm and welcoming cottage to accommodate two generations on the Southern Coast of Maine.

Close observers of nature, perhaps more than the rest of us, come to have a deep understanding of life’s rhythms—the way time travels through every person, place, and thing, animate or inanimate. Change is continual, whether we notice it or … Continue reading →

Our clients have generations of family history in this small town in New Hampshire situated between the Lakes Region and the White Mountains. They imagined a home that expressed deep and enduring ties to this place, while reflecting a breadth of ideas learned abroad, such as the concept of Wabi-sabi, the traditional Japanese aesthetic that centers on the acceptance of the imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete in nature.

The Binnacle Hill Residence project required rigorous attention to craft and detail and sharp, beautiful execution on many fronts.

With its quaint village, quiet beaches, and a mountain that was once used for colonial maritime navigation, the town of York is a charming destination located at the southern tip of Maine. On a coastal site surrounded by beautiful oaks and white pines just at the ocean’s edge, we designed a contemporary home for our clients that would serve as a tranquil retreat while meeting the year-round day-to-day needs of a young, active family.Our site-specific design began by taking advantage of…

Twenty years ago, Whitten Architects designed a home for a family on a 100-acre coastal farm in the town of Yarmouth. In 2017, we returned to the site to design a cottage for the next generation of the same family. Our client sought a home she could enjoy and share with guests, her two adult children and their adult friends, and five black Labs.Set on a coastal bluff, the cottage offers views of islands to the east and a well-developed canopy of red oaks and white pines above. The site is…

This contemporary farmhouse in Scarborough takes its cues from an historic 1915 milking barn that was once part of a dairy. Built of hemlock and spruce with mortise-and-tenon joinery, the 40- by 60-foot timber frame barn was no longer in use, but remained in excellent condition. We relocated the barn to the site and designed a new farmhouse to go with it, creating a modern connected farmstead that would serve as a lifetime home for a couple with adult children and grandchildren. We sited the…

The Lakes and Mountains region in Western Maine is made up of majestic mountain ranges, hundreds of pristine glacial lakes, and historic towns. An hour north of Portland, and home to Maine’s ski resorts, the region is a year-round destination.On the site of a former girls summer camp, our clients—a Boston-based professional couple with young children—sought to create a lakefront four-season retreat on their family property. The parents’ existing cottage and our clients’ soon-to-be home would…

An active young and growing family approached us with a desire to create a home that would give the ability to thoroughly enjoy this serene landscape. They wanted a “low-impact” retreat with the capability to welcome frequent visiting family and friends.Our site-specific design solution locates the home just beyond Maine’s mandated Shoreland setback and at an orientation that affords aquatic views on two sides of the home. Careful placement and an elongated layout gingerly navigate existing…

This woodland cabin retreat was designed for indoor-outdoor living by Whitten Architects, nestled on Loon Lake in Freedom, New Hampshire.