apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!

Utter eye candy! Thanks so much for posting this! I could look at those yummy chairs all day.

Ironically, instead of this making me grateful for zoning laws it makes me want to move to a place without zoning laws....

The staircase in particular is especially lovely.

They have zoning and development standards in New Hampshire too- its quite likely he didn't break any zoning laws by designing to a different aesthetic standard than is customary. Zoning isn't designed specifically to prevent innovation in design, its intended to help regulate how buildings interact with each other so that you don't put two incompatible uses like a kindergarten and an explosives factory side by side. It is often used to get up in people's grill about design standards, but that's not why it exists and it's not able to protect anyone from bad taste, merely to attempt to proscribe impacts like buildings being too tall.

I don't much like the trend in AT of showcasing far out and interesting designs which are likely to divide people's opinions with a disclaimer of, "thank goodness it's not near me, but it is kind of interesting, isn't it, as long as it's far far away..." It's like saying to a friend, "wow I normally find florals hideous and of course I'd never be caught dead in your dress, but on you its kind of flattering." I like to think better of this blog than that it's got a NIMBY sort of mentality about creativity.

And I don't love a lot of his look- all the wavy lines are distracting, but I'd like to live next to his house and his ideas over a bland mcmansion any day of the week.

Martin Puryear & Wendell Castle would probably enjoy these.

What e6 said. Exactly.

e6 . . . I think it's great of AT for posting different stuff for us to converse about. I like seeing peoples opinions on why they do or do not like a specific space. It's fun to see the wacky/simple/modern/traditional/over the top/overly simplistic stuff from different places that I normally wouldn't see. That's why I come to this site! Not only do we get great ideas for our own homes, we get to see crazy things. Some crazy things we might think "holy cow . . no way!" . . but every so often we might see something "crazy" that we absolutely LOVE. . . . and can try to find a way to bring small doses into our very own homes!

but I do agree. . . I'd much rather live next to this house than a mcmansion. :)

great space, great art! live free or die in NH!

"Ironically, instead of this making me grateful for zoning laws it makes me want to move to a place without zoning laws" - let's hope all of your neighbors are as talented as Jon Brooks!

Oh. My. God. This is truly something. A little scary, but **real**.

Limeliteshines, I don't think the point is that they shouldn't post this stuff. I think the point is that its great to celebrate cool things like this...but its a pretty mean backhanded compliment to say "Look how cool this is! Aren't you glad its not in your neighborhood?"

Saying "oh this is neat! I'm glad there are laws that keep it out of *my* neighborhood" is pretty snarky, and not a very gracious way to display other people's art, IMO.

You would think that AT would be supportive of free expression of creativity. Apparently they are, but NIMBY.

best. house. ever.

Gorgeous home. The subdued colors help focus the eye on the many textures. And I love that the house was made from materials found on site. It's like someone planted a seed and up sprouted this glorious home.

There is so much art and design out there that I am utterly obsessed with and inspired by (like this house!) and even want to see again and again in books or at a museum, but personally could not live with on a daily basis in my home. But, I'm honestly thrilled to hear that many of you disagree!

This home is beautiful and I love it. I can't understand anyone interested in design decrying it as something zoning should keep away: it's not as though his design features slathering the exterior with C-4 and shooting firecrackers from the roof.

To clarify on my comment, I believe everyone has a right to like or dislike something. I even think you can appreciate a design which you personally wouldn't incorporate into your own home. Its not a big deal to me if you think a well done hollywood regency is attractive but prefer modern minimalism in your own home. It's not even bad to hate hate hate something and say it. Taste is delightfully varied.

The thing in particular I find frustrating is the sentiment of, "oh isn't this precious, but thank goodness it wouldn't be allowed where I live." It feels like a sort of "designism" if you will, a sort of... "I have nothing but respect for your taste- so long as you don't express it around me".

And I'm in a field that works with zoning and I hear this attitude a lot- "oh man I totally agree we need more schools, but we should put them somewhere else. No I'm not against poor people, but I don't want them living near me". If this home is worth featuring on the blog, is worth looking at as interesting design, why is it necessary to insert the (inaccurate) disclaimer you feel glad to be legally protected from seeing it near you?

I just keep thinking of the free speech argument: "I hate what you say but I will defend to the last your right to say it." This blog post reads to me, "I like what you built, but I'd fight against your right to build it near me." And I just don't get the sentiment there. Sarah, you clearly like the house enough to feature it here, but you are thankful that it wouldn't be next door?

I'd love to have Jon's house next door to me--it's beautiful in more ways than I can count.

those pictures made my heart beat faster. seriously. if i had a gazillion dollars i'd have him design a house for me.

This is creativity at its best! A real throwback to the old hippie days with the organic shapes, materials that are used, and plants all around. I wouldn't mind living next door to this house.

This home just makes me smile....would I want to see it in my neighborhood? You Bet!

I love tours that provide alternatives to the austere minimalism of most apartment therapy homes.

I love the warm, "hobbit-hole" feel of this place. I wouldn't just love to live next-door to this place--I'd love to live in it, myself.