VT (for all of my design-obsessed peeps)

Peeps Not too long ago, only in the pages of the glossy magazines devoted to the triumphs of architecture, would a house such as this (pictured above and source unknown) be seen.  We somehow knew that design professionals (and some homeowners) in Europe and Asia had grasped the idea of an almost pure modernity paired with traditionalism, yet this philosophy was long resisted in most American cities where neighborhood advisory committees and historic preservation boards wielded considerable influence, and the proliferation of 'appropriateness' continued without much opposition, to the sometimes chagrin of the more enlightened.  Yet, new ideas are accepted -- if sometimes painfully slow; recent additions to many city landmarks (such as museums in New York City, Houston, Chicago, and St Paul), and various boroughs around the nation's metropolitan areas -- where the scarcity of urban real-estate has made a total demolition costly, prohibitive, or unwanted, offer ampl...