Projects 2017 . . .

"First off forget grandeur. I don't think it's the quality we want today."

~Albert Hadley~

Wise words. Today big houses tend to be built on comparatively tiny plots of land. Fifteen-and 20-room houses are set no more than 50 feet apart, rather like the barracks at an Army base. The effect is akin to having Queen Elizabeth dolled up in coronation garb while riding in a Volkswagen Cabriolet.

People who buy big houses because they think they need the space are often amazed to discover they still don`t have enough, no matter how many rooms they have. This is because the maxim affecting garages also applies to the interior of houses. Junk expands to exceed available space.

Of course, one item common to all big houses is a large directory filled with the names and numbers of the wide and varied assortment of fix-it fellows required to keep the place running - names and numbers that are as closely held as the codes to Swiss bank accounts. Remember Versailles? Its maintenance bankrupted the French treasury. The rest is history.

*=project completed

DvH design 2017 01-apartment update-Rome, Italy *

DvH design 2017 02-house restoration- Southern Germany

DvH design 2017 03-house restoration on a small private island-Baden, Germany

DvH design 2017 04-1920s house restoration, Silverlake, Los Angeles, CA

so far...