2018 is off to a fast and furious start. Hence the New Years greeting in mid-January. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to do worthwhile projects with wonderful clients and fine craftspeople.

Patterson Addition

One of our favorite projects over the last year has been designing an addition to Ippy and Neil Patterson's home near Hillsborough. Meredith and I tried to give it a quiet dignity from both the inside and outside.

Much of this is due to the master craftsmanship of the late Glen Shultz. We were happy that he saw the culmination of his handiwork prior to his passing.

The Hearth House

This fabulous mid-century modern home, a three-sided sunken fireplace, got a complete refresh and addition. Megan was sweating the details with AG Builders to make the new and old work seamlessly together.

Article in Walter Magazine

Michael Welton wrote a lovely profile article, Building up The Bull City, about our work in revitalizing Durham. Thank you Mike, Walter Magazine, and Lissa Gottwals, for the great photographs.

NCSU Summer Design Build Studio #7

In the last newsletter I told you about the student's post-harvest shade structure for the farmers at the Agroecology Farm at NCSU. The project was completed in 11 weeks - on time and on budget! And now it's working hard meeting the needs of the farm - and looking great all the while. Mentoring student architects is one of the most rewarding things that I do all year.

If you know a not-for-profit group in the triangle area, with roughly $25-$30K to invest in a small built structure to help the community, we are always looking for good candidates for future summer studio design/build projects. They can connect with me at ellen@ellencassillyarchitect.com. We already have a project in line for 2018 but 2019 is right around the corner.

New Intern - Rosa McDonald

Speaking of mentoring, we are so happy to have Rosa McDonald join us as our intern. She started with us in the fall helping all over the office, especially on renderings and energy modeling. She is working on her Masters in Architecture with double certificates in Public Interest Design and Energy and Technology from NCSU.

Wishing you all a wonderful 2018,

Ellen, Meredith, Megan, Esther, Rosa and Niña

Our holiday oyster roast