Flavin Architects

Powder Mill House - now live on our website!

In a pocket of woods not far from Walden Pond, this distinctly modern house settles effortlessly into its surroundings. Conceived as a floating architectural bar, the house embraces the property’s glaciated landscape. It seems to balance on two small hills, above a partially exposed concrete plinth.

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.


Webb Structural Services
Beals & Thomas

official

We designed Bunker Hill House in Charlestown to respect the historic fabric of the city while designing for the 21st century.

The façade features a projecting two-story bay, divided windows and vertical proportions. The exterior combines cedar shingles and shiplap boards with jet mist granite. This dark grey exterior contrasts with a bright white interior washed with sunlight.

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.


Engineering Alliance
Simpson, Gumpertz + Heger

At Bunker Hill House in Charlestown, the kitchen and wet bar are bathed in warmth and light. Sunlight pours down the stairwell and refracts through glass paneling run underneath the natural wood handrail.

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.


Engineering Alliance
Simpson, Gumpertz + Heger

Photography by

It was great to be on site for our photography of Tiered Modern last week! A few new projects will be launching on the website soon...

Thanks to our collaborators on this project.
Haven Builders
Everett M. Brooks Co.

Webb Structural Services
Suburban HVAC
NEC Solar

A few more shots of Bridging the Past from our office visit to a few of our recently completed, and in-progress projects. What is your favorite angle of Bridging the Past?

Thank you to our collaborators on this project:construction
Webb Structural Services
Snelling & Hamel Associates
RJZ Engineering

Dreaming of a long weekend at Eastern Point Retreat. Happy Friday!

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.

Perkins Custom Contracting


Photography by

Our reel on Monday featured the Powder Mill House in its finished state. Here is a collection of Colin's early sketches when the project was in its schematic design phase. Do you recognize that entry view?

Thanks to our collaborators on this project.


Beal & Thomas
Webb Structural Services

Comfort Craftsmen Mechanical

One of our iconic Flavin screens at the Lappin Residence, a midcentury modern renovation project, designed originally by the architect Edward Weinshanker in 1959. Images by will be on our website soon!

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.



Hayes Engineering

The landscaping work is continuing at our Southborough, MA project!

Thank you to our collaborators on this project:construction
Webb Structural Services
Snelling & Hamel Associates
RJZ Engineering

Our newest project, Shaker Glen Brook Residence, is now published on our in-progress section of our website! Check it out under our residential portfolio.

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.
Landscape Collaborative
Boston Survey
Beals & Thomas

We are honored to have been featured in last Sunday's issue of the for our Swan Studio project! 's article highlights our work in Six Moon Hill in Lexington and our task of creating an outbuilding on our client's property that was in respectful conversation with their 1949 mid-century modern home. The Flavin team worked to take the modest materials characteristic of these 1940s structures—concrete blocks and vertical cedar siding—and do something sculptural with them.

Link to the article in our bio.

A sketch of Glass Modern by Colin. A landscape designed by Wagner Hodgson creates a series of lawn terraces retained by recycled steel I beams. These lead to a stately entranceway made of an impressive six-foot wide door on a pivot hinge.

The roof is cantilevered over the north and south terraces, providing shelter to outdoor spaces available for dining, recreation, or relaxation.

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.
KVC Builders

Webb Structural Services

Kelley Welding

Photography by

Brae Burn Modern exhibits many of the hallmarks of our Natural Modern design philosophy. It is a testament to what can be done when the history of a site and the needs of the client receive real consideration.

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.
Derba Construction


Peter Nolan + Associates

Make Architectural Metalworking
Photography by

The L-shape of Cedar Cove Modern forms a protected garden entryway in the area of the house facing away from the lake while a two-story stone wall marks the entry and continues through the width of the house, leading the eye to a rear terrace. This terrace has a spectacular view, aided by the structure’s smart positioning in relationship to Lake Webster.

Thanks to our collaborators on this project.
Morin Builders
Highland Landscaping
Johnson Structural Engineering
BC Engineering & Survey
JV Mechanical Contractors
Fine Lines
Photography by
Styling by

The modern concrete Cliff House we designed is situated on the brow of a steep cliff overlooking Marblehead harbor. The concrete visually anchors the house to stone outcroppings on the property, and the low profile ensures the structure doesn’t conflict with the surround of traditional, gabled homes.

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.
P.M. Gallagher Builders

Webb Structural Services
Photography by

A scene from our office field trip in May at our Bare Hill Pond project. It was amazing for our whole staff to see this site in person. Our clients asked us to replace an existing cabin on the edge of Bare Hill Pond with an environmentally sensitive house that takes advantage of the site’s natural beauty.

The front volume, closer to the pond is a single story, with ‘public’ kitchen, living, and dining spaces and a wall of glass facing the water. In the kitchen, bar seating provides a spot for morning coffee, conversation, and views to the pond filtered through trees.

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.construction

Newton architect Samuel Glaser designed the jewel-box Leventhal House in 1949, for a member of a prominent local family. Over time, the home has been sensitively maintained and updated by a small number of devoted owners.

Flavin’s recent updates included replacing the original garage with a new flexible outbuilding and reimagining the adjacent exterior spaces, clarifying the relationship between house and accessory structure. We worked in tandem with, and in support of, Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design and their beautiful vision for the grounds and gardens.

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.
Denali Construction
Webb Structural Services

Styling by
Photos by

Check out Tiered Modern on our In-Progress section of the website!

This hand-drawn site plan helps illustrate our firm’s design process of combining three dimensional computer modeling with evocative hand sketches.

From the beginning, we aim to understand the entirety of the property. The house placement is organized to address privacy, and take advantage of views. Our initial studies don’t stop at the edge of the house, they include outside terraces, walks, driveways, and plantings. Taking the time to understand the whole property helps us create the best possible design.

Thanks to our collaborators on this project.
Haven Builders
Everett M. Brooks Co.

Webb Structural Services
Suburban HVAC
NEC Solar

We are excited to be making leaps forward on our Steinert House (1963) restoration project. Originally designed for members of the Steinert family of piano dealers, the house is the work of F. Frederick Bruck (1921–1997). Bruck, a German émigré, studied at Harvard with Walter Gropius and established his own practice in Cambridge.

Improvements to the site include the addition of a large lap pool and cabana. The inclusion of brick wing walls with white soffit and narrow floor-to-ceiling windows reflect the architecture of the original house. Furthermore, the choice of a dark pool interior works to reflect the mature landscape of the property. This rendering was done by the talented Flavin team.

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.






masonry.landscape

Please join in supporting on their mission to save Marcel Breuer's own house in Wellfleet, MA.

Pictured: Breuer House, 1949. Hatch House, 1961.

With a total budget of under $5,000, Breuer’s original house was very basic and pragmatic. There was no electricity, the siding was ribbed plywood, framing and plywood subfloor were exposed on the interior, and furniture consisted of a picnic table, cinder block side tables and mattresses on the floor. Over the years Breuer used the house as a laboratory for new ideas.

The CCMHT team has raised a little over $1.25 million since June 2023, and still plan to close on the property by the end of June 2024. They plan to borrow the balance to get to the $2 million purchase price. Your support will make that loan as small as possible, and help them to finish strong. For more information, head to their website or click the link in their bio.

A few additional early sketches of our Bare Hill Pond project. Can you spot the entry we showed a sketch of last week?

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.construction

A scene from last week's Flavin Architects office field trip to our recent project, Bridging the Past. The color variation in the slats was especially evident on the cloudy day, contrasted by the surrounding trees.

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.construction
Webb Structural Services
Snelling & Hamel Associates
RJZ Engineering

Please join in supporting on their mission to save Marcel Breuer's own house in Wellfleet, MA.

"Though in disrepair, the house is entirely original and the acquisition would include Breuer’s irreplaceable collection of art, furniture, books and photographs which will be archived and made available to scholars and the public. The pristine 4.2 acre site is surrounded by protected Park land, and abuts three kettle ponds and the headwaters of the Herring River. Our success will prevent the demolition of the house and the dispersal of its contents." -

The CCMHT team has raised a little over $1.25 million since June 2023, and still plan to close on the property by the end of June 2024. They plan to borrow the balance to get to the $2 million purchase price. Your support will make that loan as small as possible, and help them to finish strong. For more information, head to their website or click the link in their bio.

We envisioned the design for our Bare Hill Pond House as two cubic volumes, clad in grey stained cedar boards and separated by a hallway. The house is entered at that center hallway, lined with sliding wood screens and leading to a screen porch, a common feature in many of our house designs.

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.construction

Last Sunday, the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy tour provided an opportunity to recognize all of the architects who have worked on The Tucker House property in Six Moon Hill. Our Swan Studio is an outbuilding on the property of The Tucker House, a 1949 house by architect Sarah Pillsbury Harkness. Harkness, a founding partner at TAC, designed three residences at Moon Hill. Richard Morehouse, an associate at TAC, redesigned the entrance and added the second floor for the Tuckers’ growing family soon after Harkness finished the home.

In 2012, the current owners hired who has worked on many properties in Six Moon Hill. Techler added their dining room, a guest suite and piano room, and reconfigured parts of the downstairs and the entrance. has worked tirelessly on the property's landscape for many years, maintaining the property's charming footpaths and embracing the natural site.

(left to right): Tim Techler, Colin Flavin, Jonathan Keep, and Heather Souza.

At Richard Neutra's 1946 Kaufmann House in Palm Springs, CA an ingenious line of vertical aluminum louvers line the first-floor passage between the guest and main living space. These louvers can be adjusted to open to the desert garden, admitting a cooling breeze over the water, or be closed to block the afternoon sun.

In these cutaway diagrams by Colin, Neutra’s louver system is shown open in the upper drawing and closed in the lower. This sketch was included in Colin's Houzz article on the Kaufmann House published in early March.

Thank you to some of the people and organizations who made the article possible:

We are honored to have Swan Studio be selected as the winner of the 'Small Modern Cottage' category of the 2024 Your Modern Cottage Design Awards.

“The simplicity of the work was refreshing. Nothing complicated, no dramatic overhangs, nothing forced, just simple design with simple materials used thoughtfully.” - ,

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.
P.M. Gallagher Builders
Everett M. Brooks Co.
Jonathan Keep
Webb Structural Services
Photography by
Styling by

For our client who wanted a modern, yet warm home, the natural, contemporary aesthetic of Flavin Architects, was the perfect fit.

Our design of Brae Burn Modern is intended to exist harmoniously with its traditional neighbors, with elements like divided lite windows and hip roofs reflecting traditional design in the area. The sloping roofline steps down, echoing the slope of the property, and keeps the house in scale with the neighborhood. The entry hall features a sculptural glass, steel, and wood stair.

Thank you to our collaborators on this project.

Derba Construction


Peter Nolan + Associates

Make Architectural Metalworking
Photography by