Architect for Chautauqua Institution.

Building on the grounds is its own kind of work.

Every project inside Chautauqua Institution goes through the Architectural Review Board, the board that has to approve building plans on the grounds. The district has rules about how big a building can be, what it is made of, how close to the lot line it can sit, and how a new building sits beside its neighbours. A house that would be approved anywhere else in the county can be sent back here. The firm designs for the board from the first sketch, with the standards built into the drawings rather than added after a rejection.

The work covers the full range of what gets built on the grounds: whole-house renovations of the old cottages and mansions, additions that have to look original, new houses on the few open lots, and multi-family buildings that fit a village built for foot traffic. Packard Manor, the largest of them, received the AIA Buffalo/WNY First Award for residential design.

Owners on the grounds are often not local for most of the year. The firm runs the approvals, the drawings, and the contractor questions from Jamestown, twenty minutes away, so the project keeps moving when the owner is not there.

Chautauqua Institution lists Harrington Architecture among the architects with recent work on the grounds. See the Institution’s list.

• Packard ManorComplete renovation of the 1915 lakefront mansion, with new rooms, an indoor spa, and a grand staircase down to the lake
• Midcentury craftsman houseAn existing house on the grounds reimagined as a two-story craftsman, built with Alexander Construction
• Midcentury modern additionA second floor added to a 1950s house without touching the first
• South Lake Duplex and South Lake CondominiumsNew two-family and nine-unit lakefront buildings, built to the district’s standards
• Presbyterian House, Penn Arms, and private residencesRenovations and additions across the grounds