Using local materials in your new home construction will add regional distinction and richness to it. As a result it, your new home will feel grounded in it’s location and the history of it’s community.

As a student at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, I was struck by a tradition of
architecture that uses unique qualities and materials of the local landscape to mediate between
vernacular and international styles

Case Study: Local materials in new home construction:

Above left –Mount Pleasant, Philadelphia c. 1761 designed by Thomas Nevell for John
Macphearson.

Above right- The Fischer Residence, Hatboro PA. by Louis Kahn ,1967.

These two homes are of very different styles and periods. Each home is on trend with the style of new home construction at the time they were built.  However, each uses the same material to meet the landscape. By using local rough stone that continues architectural themes to meet the earth, both of the buildings become married to the ground. This technique creates a subtle flow between nature and shelter.

Every area in the United States  has unique architecture that took advantage of what could locally be found. Factors such as local climate, construction skills and cultural heritages also contributed to the type of new home construction historically found in any particular area. Look at the historic homes in your area you will find time tested local materials to use in your new home construction.