Regional Work
Westchester County
Long residential history, established neighborhoods, and proximity to New York City shape the work here.
Westchester County
Close to the City: A Residential Landscape of Its Own.
Westchester County sits at the southern end of the Hudson Valley, but it operates on its own terms. The river is still there, the ridgelines are still there, and the light on a late afternoon in October is as good as anywhere in the Northeast. What changes is the context: the proximity to New York City, the density of established neighborhoods, and the age and character of the housing stock. These are towns with a long residential history, and the architecture reflects it.
Westchester runs from the Bronx line in the south to Putnam County in the north, a compact but varied geography of river towns, inland villages, and wooded residential communities. The eastern towns sit closer to Connecticut and tend toward quieter roads, larger lots, and more land. The western side follows the Hudson, with river views and a different architectural character. In between are the towns that define Westchester for most people who live there: Rye, Pound Ridge, Bedford, Chappaqua, and others like them. Our work in the county spans renovations, additions, and new homes across that range, including the Rye Renovation, Pound Ridge Garage, Bedford Family Farmhouse, and Chappaqua Renovation.
Cathedral ceiling in Rye, New York
Chappaqua Renovation
For this renovation in Chappaqua, we opened up the floor-plan, added windows and fireplaces and changed the whole feeling of the home.
Here, tradition is not a style. It is accumulated wisdom, still at work.
Rye Renovation
Connecting the indoor and outdoor spaces, we created a home this family could love.
EARLY HOUSES AND VILLAGES
Shared Roots, Distinct Character.
The earliest houses in Westchester share a common ancestry with the rest of the Hudson Valley, which we cover separately in our Hudson Valley article. Dutch and English settlers built modest stone and timber structures in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and remnants of that period are still visible in the older parts of the county. Federal and Georgian houses followed in the river towns and village centers. Greek Revival made its mark on the inland towns. Victorian-era houses brought porches, bay windows, and more elaborate trim to the residential streets that were filling in through the late nineteenth century.
THE COMMUTER ERA
Country Life Within Reach of the City.
By the early twentieth century, Westchester had become one of the most desirable places to live within reach of New York City. The commuter rail lines made it possible to work in Manhattan and come home to something that felt genuinely removed from it. The houses built during that period - Colonial Revival, Tudor, Shingle Style, and various period interpretations - set the tone for the county’s residential character. Many of them are still standing, still occupied, and still worth taking seriously.
RENOVATION AND NEW CONSTRUCTION
Working With an Established Housing Stock.
The work we do in Westchester today tends to engage with that existing stock. Renovations and additions are a large part of the practice here, and they require a particular kind of attention. A house that was built in 1925 has a logic to it, a set of proportions and details that either get respected or ignored, and the difference between those two approaches shows. New construction in Westchester operates under similar constraints. The lots are often smaller than they appear, the neighbors are close, and the expectations for quality are high. What that demands of a design is clarity: a clear sense of what the house should be, what it should feel like to live in, and how it should sit on its site.
MATERIALS AND PLACE
Materials That Hold Up Over Time
The materials that work here are largely the same ones that have always worked in this part of the Northeast. Painted wood siding, brick, local stone, cedar shingles, and slate roofs all belong here, especially on older houses worth preserving. These are not aesthetic choices made in isolation. They are choices that hold up over time, that age well in this climate, and that connect a house to its surroundings rather than setting it apart from them.
Design Considerations
Existing houses, compact lots, and established neighborhoods.
01 EXISTING CHARACTER
Respect the House’s Logic
A well-built older house has established proportions, details, and patterns of use. Renovations and additions should improve daily life without erasing that underlying order.
02 SITE AND CONTEXT
Fit the House to Its Setting
Covered entries, mudrooms, fireplaces, durable floors, and storage support winter life, while screened porches, terraces, gardens, pools, barns, and outdoor rooms make the most of summer.
03 MATERIALS
Choose for Longevity
Painted wood siding, brick, local stone, cedar shingles, and slate connect a house to its surroundings and age well in the regional climate.
Take the Site Seriously
The best houses in Westchester, whether old or new, tend to have one thing in common: they take their sites seriously. A house that makes the most of its land, its light, its views, and its relationship to the street and the neighbors will outlast any trend in finishes or fixtures. That is what we are aiming for in every project we take on here.
Projects in Westchester County
A selection of Crisp Architects work in the region, including new homes, renovations, guest houses, pool houses, and accessory buildings.
Regional Work
Explore Other Regions.
Each region has its own landscape, history, and architectural traditions. Explore more of the places that shape our work.