Our colleague, David Beckwith—an architect whose firm, the Beckwith Group, we have worked with often—called us in for the last phase of what had been for him a seven-year transformation of a sad Tudor-themed colonial into a stately Greek Revival home. That renovation include the addition of several columned porches, and for this screened porch on one gable end. David drew on the same proportioned columns. The plan of the porch is an engaged octagon—five complete sides show, providing a full 180-degree view from the porch.
The project began with our demolishing an old deck and doing exterior repairs on the gable end. On the new deck, we used fiber glass columns and boxed out between them to install Screen Tight—a system that has worked well for us on a number of projects. The entablature-style trim, crown, and fascia are painted clear pine, and the floor inside is 5/4 clear vertical-grain fir—all simple but elegant and reliable materials suited to the design.
Kyle Diamond co-owns New Dimension Construction in Millbrook, N.Y., with his father, Dale Diamond. www.ndccontraction.com
