Ulwick affiliates, architects

12/01/2025

PROBABLY all of my experience with the tiny "Gingerbread Cottages in Oak Bluffs on the Vineyard prepared me to design my first ADU (Additional Dwelling Unit), under a housing program laid out by the Commonwealth of MA. Half the size of the primary dwelling on the lot, up to a limit of 900 square feet. The client is raving about the initial design that we're developing.

05/12/2025

IT'S RARE nowadays to be doing a triple decker in Dorchester, we just think of it as totally built out, but we wrote about his opportunity almost a year ago: A new triple on a vacant lot at the end of a row. (Most triple deckers are basically row houses with building to each side.) So we ended up inking the deal and have gone through some design iterations and are now ready to hand this off to the structural engineer and the site engineer as we continue with construction drawings.

04/02/2025

TWENTY FOUR YEARS LATER - Different House/Same Client. We just inked an agreement to do some additions and renovations to this historic Abington Lake Street home. It's a pretty famous location at Christmas every year.

Twenty four years ago we worked with the same client on a house on Loganberry Drive with a similar scope of services.

It's always a compliment to be asked back....

(images from postcards in my personal collection)

05/07/2024

05/07/2024

"TAKING A FLYER" was the expression my first Architect boss, Walter Hall Pulsifer Jr used to say. Expending an effort for something that may or may not happen, but if you don't expend the effort it won't happen.....
I've been called in by contractor Stephon Gillings to meet with a client in Dorchester about creating a new residential building on an interesting but empty lot. I don't often venture into the city with my work, but I have. Anyway, I thought it best to generate an upper floor plan to understand potential layout issues with the tight and unusual setbacks and see if it was possible to meet the client's programmatic requirements. I've submitted the attached and if they like it we'll go on to hammer out an agreement for services....
Wish me luck !

04/15/2024

RISING OUT OF THE ASHES IN AVON.... This is actually the 3rd commission I've had over the course of my career to redesign a house after a fire, but this is the first time the fire had claimed lives, 2 lives to be exact, a father and son on Christmas night in 2018.
A contractor reached out to me looking for services to redesign what was left of the first floor and add a second for a pair of investors. It was a fairly standard 3 bedroom ranch plan, but there will be nothing fairly standard in the rebuild. I'm pretty happy with the layout I've created.
The design drawings have been approved so now we move on to the Construction Drawings.

02/24/2024

BRINGING IT BACK... Take one 1880's Randolph house, in 1968 convert it to a Temple, in 1980 tack on a huge single story brick wing as an auditorium/sanctuary, then in 2013 convert it to the Spring of Water Church. So you're stuck with an aging wood structure covered in vinyl, aluminum, and concrete asbestos that obscures any of the original character. The parking lot is out back and the main entry is a rear emergency egress. Where to start to fix it all? 'Had the first design presentation by phone with the Committee at noon today. It went well.

05/30/2022

HISTORIC HANOVER - We're beginning work on a second historic property in Hanover. In addition to the 1802 Hatch/Barstow house on Main Street, we're beginning work on the 1822 William Church/Lucy Stetson house on Hanover Street. The long-time owner passed away earlier this year and the heirs have engaged us to plan additions and renovations. Stay Tuned.

03/28/2022

NEW HAMPSHIRE PROGRESS - We had PLANNED to save the oldest part, the Cape, of this Sanbornton, NH house and replace the back wings but in the course of demoltion it was decided that the Cape would have to go too so we scrambled to change up the drawings even as the construction was already underway. Builder Tom Gosselin and I worked closely together over the past couple of months and I'm happy to report the frame is up and the plywood is on the roof.

03/28/2022

ACCESS DENIED ~. 733 Main Street in Hanover, the Whiting Homestead, was sold and the new owners want to tear it down. It is one of the oldest homes in Hanover, particularly the back wing. Through their attorney I asked for permission to preserve it on paper through plans and photographs. I received word last week that the family denied my request. There is a local builder who plans to remove it and rebuild it nearby and we are in discussions. I sent along a diagrammatic plan indicating what should be saved and how it might be broken apart to be moved. Stay tuned.

01/14/2022

CALL DOUG - just inked an agreement to work on this authentic colonial on Main Street in Hanover. Two of the neighbors recommended me to the new Owner. I start photography and measuring/drawing next week.

01/13/2022

LANDMARK CAMP MEETING ASSOCIATION - every project is different and challenging and everything has to be approved by the quixotic Architectural Review Committee. This project involves what was originally a single story "wooden tent" that was enlarged with a second story and a couple of back wings, but was still a one bedroom cottage. The proposed design turns it into a 2 bedroom cottage with a legal stair by adding a second floor to the back wing. Clients have approved the design, now its on to get the approval of the review committee.