Roots and Shoots: Meadows for the Masses
Erin Muir will be speaking at the Meadows Matter conference at Boscobel in Garrison, NY. The conference and associated information was featured in an article entitled Meadows for the Masses, in the September 27, 2024 issue of the Highlands Current.
Towards a New Vision for the old Dutchess Mall Site and the lower Clove Creek Watershed
While all eyes and dollars are focused on creating even more amenities to draw more people and more human development to the eastern edges of the Hudson Highlands State Park via the HHFT, the northern edges of the same Park remain woefully underdeveloped and neglected. While the powers that be pour money and resources into […]
Cultivating Resilience through Work That Reconnects
March 5th – April 16th, 2024Visit Event Page Please join me for this workshop series! This is the fourth time I am offering this workshop here in Cold Spring, NY. It is hard to describe the value of having a chance to connect once a week with other people who are also carving out space […]
The Work That Reconnects, Hudson Valley, NY: Healing Burnout
Full Day Workshop facilitated by Lydia Violet Hartoonian assisted by Erin Muir, Sunday October 29th 9:30-6:00 at Mullet Hall our homeplace in Cold Spring, NY https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-work-that-reconnect-hudson-valley-ny-healing-burnout-tickets-719329272217
Finished attic insulation and home electrification
Brought on in the role of architect to thoughtfully finish an attic in a 1950s Village home, TFG Studio focused on a simple and efficient approach. Working with a tight budget pushed us to find efficiency and value where needed. Our main project objective was to use existing conditions in an efficient manner, both as […]
Climate goals set (and met)
About one year ago, as part of the Philipstown Fights Dirty campaign, which is a project of Climate Smart Philipstown and the Ecological Citizens Project, The Figure Ground Studio set a series of goals, both public and private, to address our professional commitment to the goal of reducing local greenhouse gas emissions both on an […]
Nelsonville Remodel/Addition Nearing Completion
A historically appropriate and site sensitive addition in Nelsonville,NY is shepherding a neglected home into a new century with modern touches and classic geometries. Features, appliances, and materials were reused when possible, and modern fuel-efficient heat pumps replaced an aging oil boiler. An out-of-scale third floor addition was tamed with a two-story oblique structural addition, […]
Wildflower Meadow, Year 3
As Summer comes to an end and Autumn approaches, the wildflower meadow we seeded in 2019 has begun to mature. The late Summer Asters are showing their brilliant blues and purples. Traces of yellow remain, and seedheads are beginning to prominently signal the coming change of season.
A baker’s dozen eggs (finally!) from the coop
It has been a few years tweaking and adjusting the functioning of the modern chicken coop, but we finally – today, two years later – got a full round of eggs from our twelve chickens. A full 13 – a baker’s dozen.
Modern High-Performance Chicken Coop under construction
As the world shut down in late Spring 2020, we turned our attention to creating a modern high-performance chicken coop. I used site-collected black locust posts as the foundation, conventionally framed superstructure using advanced-framing techniques (2′ on center with door/window openings defined by framing module), and passive-style air sealing techniques at floor, sill, walls, windows, […]
