Add a Twist of Something Special to Your New Back Yard
With about a million things to think about, it’s understandable that if you’re planning to build a new home, you may not have spent much time thinking beyond the home itself.  The yard - especially the back yard - has likely settled toward the bottom […]

By David Porter AIA - consulting architect to the Garlinghouse Company since 1989
Since I am a licensed architect, I would be remiss if my answer wasn’t just, “of course, you need only an architect.” But, nah, for your use in designing a house, that isn’t necessarily so.
I will first explain the differences between these professions […]

By David Porter AIA - Consulting architect to the Garlinghouse Company since 1989
By now, you have probably heard loads about everything “green” - building green, living a more “green” lifestyle, and on and on.  “Green” is the new, overly used, buzzword thrown at you from twenty directions each day.  What is this new-fangled movement, what […]

You know it’s there, but you rarely give it a thought-unless the temperature inside your house won’t stay at a comfortable level.
We’re talking about the insulation in your home’s walls, attic, and beneath its floors. If there’s not enough insulation, it can be added to an existing home. However, the best time to make […]

View The Garlinghouse DIY Deck Plans collection.
This two-tiered, ground-level deck is made entirely out of ChoiceDek, a composite material created by mixing wood fibers (red cedar or some other type of softwood) with polyethylene, which comes from recycled consumer waste. Photo courtesy of ChoiceDek. Backyard decks are great because they offer level and stable platforms for all […]