Degenshein Architects

Considering the contributions of my fellow inductees, I am truly humbled. Considering the community that entrusted me serve it, I am truly grateful.

Transformation: The entry to the house becomes more welcoming as the pergola evolves. Finishing trim, rain chains and landscaping will follow.

Our service to restore the building would not have occurred absent the respect for history exemplified by the Trustees of the Village of Upper Nyack and the Nyack Joint Fire Commission.

The American Institute of Certified Planners, the professional institute of the American Planning Association (APA), has announced the election of Jan Degenshein to its College of Fellows; the highest recognition afforded a professional planner. Induction will occur on April 22, 2018, at the APA National Planning Conference, this year held in New Orleans LA. He was nominated for the honor by the New York Metro Chapter of the APA. In his letter of nomination, Maxwell Sokol AIC...P, President of the chapter, wrote: "Throughout his 50 year architect/planner career Mr. Degenshein has demonstrated his creativity and insight in affordable housing, accessibility for the disabled and senior citizens, as well as sustainable and environmentally sensitive development." Jan has been principal in private practice in planning and architecture since 1975. Although his body of work has benefitted such distant countries as Barbados and the Republic of Ghana, the thrust of his geographic focus has been in the New York Metropolitan Area. He is currently preparing a plan for the adaptive re-use of a 10 acre suburban site for transit-oriented mixed use development, comprised of service-oriented commercial space, professional offices, town houses, and apartments primarily serving "empty nesters" and young adult populations - all surrounding a public lid park over lower level parking. Degenshein recently provided expert testimony in planning, land development, and architecture in the NYS Supreme Court on behalf of the Village of Chester in Orange County, NY; and performs special planning assignments for the Village of South Blooming Grove NY. In Rockland County NY, he has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Rockland Municipal Planning Federation, as a member of the Citizens Advisory Board for Housing in the Town of Clarkstown, and the County of Rockland Task Force on water Resource Management. In her letter to Mr. Degenshein, MItzi Barker FAICP, Chair, 2018 Selection Committee said, "the . . . Committee was charged with a challenging assignment, as reviewing the nominations of so many accomplished planning professionals is a humbling task. In completing our selection, we believe that your planning career represents the qualities that define Fellowship within the AICP." Degenshein reflected on the honor: "The AICP recognition would not have been possible without the trust conferred by my community to engage in the resolution of diverse challenging issues - each aimed toward furthering societal benefit." See more

OOPS!!!! Life's choices supervene in unexpected ways. When my carpenter ignored the construction plans and framed the skylight centered in the entry hall rather than centered on the man roof, the primary axis of the house was visually violated. The front door, entry roof, collateral column and window spacing, living room, and fireplace wall were suddenly off-center with the skylight. And the solar array could no longer be symmetrically placed on the roof. It will be informati...Continue reading

Before . . .and after . . . Four days of framing . . . We have written before on this page about the limitations that coincide with every architectural project. Here we have a site that once was Connecticut farmland, later turned into a suburban enclave of "colonials" and hi-ranches. This was a left-over lot, wedged between five other houses of varying ages and styles. To comfortably fit the house into its environmental and contextual setting, we took great care in analyzing the historical vernacular of local structures - it's breeding, if you will - so as to better understand what their forms accomplished, and how they shaped the local architectural culture. We then integrated this information into our design, omitting artifice and obsolete elements while respecting sustainability, accessibility and affordability.

The construction dam has burst. 1. Building corners were staked by surveyor Dennis Deilus. 2. The footings were excavated by Joe O'Boy. 3. Footings were formed, inspected and poured by Marco and his crew of LSB Carpentry. 4. Foundations were constructed, damp-proofed and insulated on the exterior with 2" of extruded polystyrene (XPS).... 5. The underslab was leveled, 4" of gravel laid. 6. Underslab plumbing sanitary lines and electric conduit laid out & installed (along with a radon release pipe) by Eric Somner and Bill Truden. 7. Polyethylene vapor barrier spread with overlapped and taped edges over 2" of XPS. 8. Slab reinforcement was placed, inspection occurred, a superstructure building permit issued, and concrete poured. 9. Excellent lumber was delivered by Hatch & Bailey. 10. LSB commenced framing. (They are up to the second floor after three days. It has been a busy seven weeks. See more

These revisions satisfied the concerns previously listed: 1. By making the house deeper and flipping it east to west, the garage entry could be placed on the side of the house in an informal service court. Utility connection could be more appropriately located on this, the east facade. 2. The utility room was enlarged to accommodate a service entrance near the rear yard, a lavatory, laundry room, butler's pantry, water heater, electrical circuit breaker panel board and direct... access to th garage. 3. The kitchen - used far more frequently than the dining room - was placed along the rear wall, adjoining the garage. French doors in the adjoining living room permit easy access to the rear yard for entertaining. 4. The stairs were moved back toward the center of the house to create a more inviting entry. The changes added 150 square feet to the footprint of the living area. To satisfy tight budget constraints, outriggers above the east and west bedroom windows were eliminated, as well as the cupola. (Its planned copper cricket weathervane had sentimental importance: it was a family "heirloom" dating back over a half century.) The relultant house will look less like a barn. Some give, some take always occurs.

The first design attempt illustrated in the two previous posts fulfilled the stated program requirements, but there were compromises to overcome: 1. The presentation of the structure to those approaching from the street was more like a house attached to a garage. The garage doors commanded too much visual dominance. 2. The second floor and roof over the garage required a tricky structural cantilever. 3. The guest lavatory was accessed through the laundry room, and the mudroom... was too small for needed storage. 4. The kitchen had neither proximate access to the backyard, nor views to the back yard. 5.The main entry was tight and immediately imposed conflicting pathways: main entry door and stairs. Architectural design is an evolutionary process, so it was back to the drawing board for refinement.