Millan Architects

25th Anniversary Project Reflection | Burke Residence, Warren, VT

The timber frame at the heart of this home was headed for demolition. Instead, it became the reason this house is cemented into Vermont's beautiful Green Mountains.

Set on the k**b of a hill, the Burke Residence began with a 19th-century barn slated to be torn down. We helped identify and survey the frame, then worked with the timber framer to develop a plan for its repair and restoration. With the owners, we took part in the raising — an emotionally and physically satisfying process of watching the frame rise in a matter of days.

From the driveway, the house reads as a New England farmhouse that grew over generations. A large barn mass and cascading roofs echo the connected farm buildings of the region, with weathered vertical plank siding on the barn, white clapboard on the lower wings, and a standing seam metal roof suited to the Snow Belt.

Inside, a massive fieldstone hearth anchors the open living spaces of the hand-hewn timber frame, its deeply raked mortar recalling the dry-laid stone walls of the area. Living spaces open to views over the Mad River valley, while cupola windows induce a stack effect that naturally cools the house in summer.

Completed with Edgcomb Design Group, the Burke Residence reflects a belief that guides our work: the best buildings honor their materials, their setting, and the generations still to come.

Explore more of our residential and timber frame work: https://vist.ly/5azpp

Preservation in Progress | Sarah Furnace

As we move into the summer, significant progress has been made at Sarah Furnace as individual structures begin to take shape across this multi-building preservation and adaptive reuse project.

At the Barn, the timber frame is now largely enclosed. Stained interior horizontal wall siding and structural insulating panels (SIPs) define the building envelope, while the completed structural steel within the addition establishes the form of the building. The raw space is inspiring!

All of the site utilities are nearly complete. Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing rough-in work is continuing as we continue through the preparation for the concrete floor pours, which is nearing completion.

At the Mansion, structural stabilization advances as the roof rafters are sistered with LVL engineered lumber. Interior walls have been framed, allowing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing rough-in work to progress. Rigid insulation is being added to the solid masonry exterior walls before we proceed with framing and insulating the stud walls.

The two outbuildings have also begun to take shape. The Tack House (a future tool shed) and the Wagon Shed (future storage and workroom) have each been framed, sheathed, and given poured concrete slabs. These buildings replicate the form and mass of historic buildings that were structurally unsafe and had to be demolished. As they emerge, the exterior spaces between the buildings have become clear again for the first time in months.

With each structure beginning to define itself, the months ahead promise dramatic and visible change. We’re excited to continue to share the evolution on Sarah Furnace in the coming months!

Architect Spotlight | Henry Chapman Mercer

Today we celebrate the birthday of Henry Chapman Mercer, the Bucks County archaeologist, collector, and tile maker whose most enduring work was a home he designed for himself: Fonthill Castle.

Mercer actually had no formal architectural training. What he had was a decade of studying medieval castles across Europe and a conviction that he could build something unique.

Between 1908 and 1912, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, he realized that vision as Fonthill Castle — a sprawling, asymmetrical castle of poured-in-place reinforced concrete.

He worked without conventional blueprints, designing the space from the inside out, integrating modern amenities like indoor plumbing and electricity within walls that were made to feel as if they were centuries old.

Mercer surfaced nearly every concrete column, arch, and ceiling with his own handcrafted Moravian tiles, the same tiles that still appear in fireplaces and floors throughout the Philadelphia region.

Mercer's devotion to Fonthill Castle resonates with our own work at Millan Architects. We are drawn to projects where craft and construction are one gesture, where material itself shapes how a space is experienced to draw out its full potential.

Today, Fonthill Castle stands as a museum and National Historic Landmark, stewarded by the Bucks County Historical Society.

Project Progress | Brick House Transformation

Our progress in May 2026 moved this residential transformation into a new phase, as attention shifted from the nearly completed first floor toward the outdoor living spaces and the basement level.

In the rear yard, a sequence now descends from the house to a mid-level hot tub, then continues down to an in-ground swimming pool, a sunken living room, and a transformed pool house. This arrangement strengthens flow, sight lines, and the overall connection of outdoor living with the home.

A dining pavilion will offer shade beside the pool and adjacent to the pool house, which extends the home's interior sensibility into the outside landscape.

The basement is also beginning to show its character. The well-equipped exercise room is now finished with beautiful white oak paneling and a white oak acoustical ceiling. The exercise room will be completed soon with a custom steam shower with stone slab walls and a cedar sauna. A casual game area beside the kitchenette and a home theater room establish the lower level as a destination for relaxation and joy.

As interior and exterior continue to align, the home affirms a principle that guides our work: design is measured not by appearance alone, but by how thoughtfully a space supports the life lived within it. We look forward to sharing more progress pictures with you soon!