By KATHRYN BOUGHTON                                                                 (Adobe Acrobat printable version)

      Perhaps no possession more clearly reflects the personality of its owner than a house.  Whether a starter home for a young couple raising kids in the suburbs, a mansion set amid manicured acres or a retirement home on the shores of a quiet pond, each dwelling mirrors the tastes and needs of those who dwell within it. 

      Similarly, the way space is used in houses can change with the decades and the changing life styles of homeowners.  Young families may find they need more room, while grandparents might want to create guest quarters for visiting children and grandchildren.  Retirees who choose to stay in their longtime homes may decide to use extra space for an income - producing apartment, or homeowners may opt for a general redesign to make living space more efficient. 

      "After 20 years in the business I decided I wanted to change things,” said the architect.  "I searched my soul for what I liked to do best and realized I was happiest working with existing houses, doing something wonderful with them.  I like working with people, and I find you learn more about them when you are working with an existing building.  You are not as concerned with style, but more with solving a unique problem.” 

      "All the same issues are there as when you are planning new construction-lighting, traffic patterns, room arrangements, land uses - but this is an area of the business that has been under - served, where the traditional approach to architecture doesn't work.  And the reason it doesn't work is because the fees just aren't there," she said.  

      "There is a tremendous amount of work involved in doing a redesign, so when you approach it from a traditional point of view everyone is unhappy - the architect feels he hasn't been able to charge enough and the homeowner feels he's paid too much.  Then, when the project is under construction, the builder is there every day, the homeowner is there every day and the project will always evolve into something similar to what was planned while a fairly rigid set of plans sits unused in [the contractor's] truck.  It's inevitable, it's human nature to want to change the plans, but about 20 percent of the [architect's] effort will be wasted."