A design and build studio in the Upper Valley, making a few houses a year and finishing every one of them ourselves.
The studio
Most houses are designed by one firm, priced by another, and built by a third. Every hand-off loses something: a detail, a dollar, a reason. We put the architect and the builder in the same room from the first sketch to the last coat of oil, so the house that gets built is the one that was drawn, at the price that was agreed, by the people who promised it.
2024 to 2025
A single-storey house set into a north-facing slope, with a polished concrete floor that runs unbroken from the entry to the terrace. Glazing was sized to the view, not the catalogue.
The original timber frame was kept and exposed. Oak cabinetry, a single stone counter, and one brass tap. Nothing in the room was bought twice.
Charred larch cladding, a steel roof, and a plan that fits between the existing trees. No tree was removed to build it.
Orchard Kitchen, stair to the loft.
One architect and one builder sit at the same table from the first sketch. Cost is a design input, not a surprise at tender. You see a fixed price before a drawing is finished.
Our own carpenters and a small circle of trades we have worked with for a decade. One site lead, one weekly walk-through with you, and a schedule that is written down and kept.
We return at six months and at two years to check the house is settling as it should. Doors are adjusted, timber is oiled, and anything that is ours to fix is fixed.
The studio
“We build three or four houses a year. That number is the whole business plan. It is how many we can stand behind.”
Tessa Marrow, founder and principal. Eleven people: four architects, five carpenters, two who keep the rest honest.
We take on a small number of houses each year and reply to every enquiry within two working days. A first conversation is an hour, at the site if we can.
