“When regulations make it prohibitive economically to make improvements on your property, it’s over the top for me.”

—Architect, preservationist and historic homeowner Robin Levitt, quoted in the New Yorkabout the severe limitations imposed by some of San Francisco’s historic preservation codes Times

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“Modernism is loved in some quarters but not others. People are less willing to adapt their own needs to what’s there.”

—Lucretia Giese, who co-owns a Modern home in New England, storied bastion of American traditional design, as quoted in an article about protecting Modern houses in the New York Times

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“The way that we were able to keep the house from being a static set piece or a re-creation of a particular time period was really inspirational. It’s a living, breathing house that really reflects them [the clients], their interests and their lifestyle. For me, that’s what makes the house exciting.”

—Daniella Holt Voith, AIA, LEED AP, principal in charge, Voith & Mactavish Architects, LLP, quoted in Clem Labine’s Period Homes magazine about her firm’s work on the restoration and renovation of a mid-19th-century townhouse in Philadelphia’s famed Rittenhouse Square

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“The skill of an architect has to do with understanding people’s responses to the space. A house is not simply a box or a façade. My job as an architect is to modulate the space and create a home that has a distinctive personality. Just like a tailor making a custom suit, I have to make sure it fits its owner.”

—Ira Grandberg, AIA, principal, Grandberg & Associates Architects, whose work is profiled in the most recent issue of Clem Labine’s Period Homes magazine

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“If we think of each other, rather than only ourselves, we approach our endeavor with purpose, a purpose worth slowing down for and appreciating more fully. If we share this purpose with those around us, we can stop the madness of the subdivision, the strip mall, the office park and replace it with lovable places worth passing down to our grandchildren.”

—Architect Braulio Casas, principal, Braulio Casas Architects, writing in the
current issue of Clem Labine’s Period Homes about what it will take for
architects to begin creating worthy buildings again

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“This may be the first house with columns built in San Francisco in 50 years.”

—Andrew Skurman, principal, Andrew Skurman Architects, quoted in Clem Labine’s Period Homes magazine about his design of a neo-Georgian townhouse in the City by the Bay

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“By caring for our own homes, and increasing our respect and understanding of the importance of historic houses, we recognize the limits of our ability to manage the natural and human-made biosphere. We are designing with history in mind, and respecting the role that our ancestors had in creating our whole environment. In this way we are true to our own nature as well as that of the world around us.”

—Mark Alan Hewitt and Gordon Bock, quoted in a review of their new book, “The Vintage House: A Guide to Successful Additions and Renovations”

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“My mission is to make certain that this tradition of architecture – both its Classical root and many traditional branches – continues to be available to new generations so we may create places worthy of us.”

—Christine G.H. Franck, designer, educator, and author, in a profile appearing in the September issue of Clem Labine’s Period Homes magazine

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“This building, this museum, meant a lot to people here.”

—Ann Peconie, quoted in the New York Times about the ravaging of the historic Guy Park Manor, near Albany, N.Y., in floods caused by Hurricane Irene’s torrential rain. Peconie is the executive director of the Walter Elwood Museum, which was housed in the manor