Residential Architecture Now: Mid-Hudson Valley

*This event will be occurring as a live webinar. Registrants will be emailed a link to access the program.*

Four Rural Designs, Four Rural Conversations

This program, organized by AIANY Custom Residential Architects Network, will explore the unique experiences of practitioners who design homes, farms, and work studios in the Mid-Hudson Valley.

The Mid-Hudson Valley has won a hard-fought battle to conserve the distinctly rural character and remarkably historic architecture of its countryside, villages, and small communities. New homes, farms, and work studios are carefully woven into the landscape under the watchful eye of regional planning boards, historic review boards, and environmental protection agencies. In order to realize commissions, residential designers whose practices are located within the region, or in nearby citie  such as New York City, Albany, or Boston, must become experts in navigating conservation requirements and become familiar with the state-of-the-art language of rural and historic conservation.

What is the state-of-the-art design language of rural and historic conservation? Why do clients choose to purchase land to create a home, farm, or work studio in the distinctly rural communities of the Mid-Hudson Valley? How do the environmental protection, historic preservation, and land conservation regulations impact their aspirations? What design trends, technical innovations, and planning tools seem ideally suited to a rural region? What are the cross-overs in urban residential architecture and rural residential architecture? What are the challenges in designing homes for property owners that have relocated from urban areas to rural neighborhoods? What are the NIMBY concerns that arise and need to be addressed when developing new projects in communities that are resistant to change?

These and questions about the most current issues that are impacting the Mid-Hudson Valley will be addressed by the panelists in one-on-one conversations with their clients as they present designs they completed for them.

Speakers:
Peggy Anderson, Founder, Peggy Anderson Associates
Stephanie Bassler, RA, CPHC, Principal, North River Architecture
Neil Pelone, AIA, Founder and Principal, Pelone Bailey Architects
Marica McKeel, AIA, Founder and Principal, Studio MM Architect

Guest Interviewer:
Sherry Jo Williams, Designer, Curator, and Journalist

Peggy Anderson is founder of Peggy Anderson Associates, a construction management and design/build firm located in Hudson, New York serving clients throughout the Hudson Valley and in New York City. Her commissions include newly constructed custom residential architecture and renovations of historic structures for both residential and commercial use. Anderson is considered a pioneer of the Hudson, New York revival with her most noted contribution, the development of the city’s renowned Fish & Game restaurant in collaboration with Zak Pelaccio.

Stephanie Bassler is principal of North River Architecture located in Stone Ridge, New York with projects located throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley. Bassler is an expert in green building design and a Certified Passive House Consultant. Her work, produced in collaboration with long-time associate Peter Reynolds, includes master-planning, net-zero and Passive House residential designs, the Passive House-certified Women’s Leadership Center at the Omega Institute, and a LEED-certified renovation for Eileen Fisher, Inc in New York City. Bassler is currently the Vice President of the Passive House Alliance, Hudson Valley Chapter.

Neil Pelone is a founder and principal of Pelone Bailey Architects located in Chatham, New York. With his business partner Marc Bailey, AIA, the firm serves clients throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley. Pelone’s designs include hospitality, single-family and multi-family residential, retail, farms, master planning, community planning and commercial offices. Over the course of his career, Pelone worked on projects in Germany, London, Chicago, New York City, the Adirondacks, and the greater Albany area.

Marica McKeel is founder and principal of Studio MM Architect. McKeel describes herself as an architect, designer, foodie, and entrepreneur. With offices located in New York City and the Mid-Hudson Valley, the firm’s projects include new homes, renovations, and furniture design. Among others, McKeel have recently completed TinkerBox , a modern home in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, and is currently designing other contemporary houses in Upstate New York’s Hudson Valley region, and in various cities throughout the Eastern United States. McKeel is licensed to practice architecture in NY, CT, MA, FL, SC, and TN.

Sherry Jo Williams is a designer, curator, and journalist. She brings her skilled eye to each project, happily challenging convention and demanding design excellence from start to finish. She has served with a variety of nonprofit organizations including DesignHudson, The Prison Public Memory Project, WiseBodies and The Hudson Eye.