Traditional Building Conference’s 2025 Sleepy Hollow Schedule
The Traditional Building Conference returns this October, visiting Sleepy Hollow, New York for two days of lectures, historic building tours, events, and courses all about traditional building. Learn about historic preservation, tour the historic Lyndhurst Mansion, and mingle with top architects, designers, and preservation professionals. Read on for the full schedule of event at this October's Traditional Building Conference in Sleepy Hollow.
Tuesday, October 7
8:00 – 9:00 AM Breakfast, Registration, and Exhibits
9:00 - 9:10 AM
Welcome and Introductions
9:10 - 10:15 AM
Architecture, Interiors & Landscape: The Power of Creative Collaboration in Design
Speaker: Scott Sottile, AIA, Partner, Ferguson & Shamamian Architects, New York, NY
1 AIA Health/Safety/Welfare Learning Unit
This presentation will focus on the design of custom homes that embody a mastery of traditional architectural vocabularies, dedication to craftsmanship, and an understanding of the dynamic collaboration between clients, architecture, interiors, landscape, and construction. As illustrated in their new book COLLABORATIONS: Architecture Interiors Landscapes—which features an extensive body of work across the country—Ferguson & Shamamian’s singular approach to architectural design seamlessly harmonizes timeless, understated classical character, proportion and detail with an understanding of their clients’ tastes, desires, and necessities for modern life.
Join the firm’s partner Scott Sottile as he pulls back the curtain to show how the firm creates a dialogue between past and present and form and functionality to design residences that each have their own unique story, architectural directive, and custom details. As he opens the doors to projects in the Hudson River Valley, California, Maine, Connecticut and beyond, he will share his firm’s collaborative approach to designing one-of-a-kind houses, appropriate for their site, reflective of the lives, personalities, and needs of their clients.
- Consider the team approach-using discipline specific expertise in architecture, interiors, and landscape- for solving complex residential design challenges.
- Apply traditional design elements such as good geometric proportions, daylighting, and framing exterior views to maximize the positive impact of interiors on inhabitants and guests.
- Use natural and created landscapes for the wellbeing of inhabitants and guests for walking and contemplation. Siting benches and their settings for relaxation and thinking, developing paths for walking to appreciate nature and gardens, and using plants’ colors, textures, and fragrances for rejuvenation of families and their guests.
- Plan holistically for public and private spaces, considering family needs and the comfort of guests with attention to small details when preparing project site and floor plans and working drawings and renderings. Considerations include facilitating conversations, remote work and homework settings, and the choices one can make with lighting.
- Draw upon centuries old methods for siting buildings so that new traditional buildings can maximize daylight, solar heat gain, and reduce energy consumption.
- Use traditional designs to achieve sustainability and residential code compliance by making selections of durable materials inside and out.
10:15 - 10:35 AM Networking Break
10:35 - 11:40 AM
Glass in Windows and Doors - Navigating Requirements for Climate and Code
Speaker: Russ Oliveri, President, Oliveri Millworks
1 AIA Health/Safety/Welfare Learning Unit
Custom solutions for specific challenges are a given when working on historic buildings or designing custom traditional buildings. Requirements for impact ratings vary by region in the US. Hurricanes have taught us a lot about design. This presentation will focus on efforts to improve the energy performance and storm response of windows and doors by examining some case studies. Emphasis will be on evaluating the entire project including its Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) and Heating, Ventilating, and Cooling (HVAC) systems.
Speaker: Gordon Bock, Author, and Educator; former Old-House Journal editor-in-chief.
Identifying Arts & Crafts buildings, whether for Historic Structures Reports or architectural pleasure, can be a tricky task even for professionals. The reason is, Arts & Crafts is NOT a style but a shared set of distinctive characteristics and features, an ethos, a point of view. Sustainability or “cozy,” can be applied in different ways and to different sites and locales. This regionality only adds to many people’s confusion about Arts & Crafts.
Arts & Crafts architecture, which began in Britian in the 1880s as a design reform movement with William Morris, changed, sifted focus, and reoriented – sometimes 180 degrees – when it migrated to United States around 1900. Some of the best exponents of Art & Crafts design wrote very little “theory.”
In this presentation, we’ll get a handle on some of the hallmarks and telltale characteristics of Arts & Crafts buildings – from the conceptual to the literal, built examples – using the perspective of the East Coast, New York’s Hudson Valley and New Jersey, one of the movement’s epicenters during its heyday from 1890 to 1914.
- Explain Ruskin’s and Morris’s beliefs about “Honest Construction” and its connection to the value of vernacular and folk architecture. Selecting natural materials for buildings has a positive impact on inhabitants of and visitors to Arts & Crafs buildings.
- Consider “structural construction” versus “ornamental construction” and its continuing influence, even into the era of big buildings.
- Consider using holistic design objectives that began with Arts & Crafts houses for residential design today. Creating harmonious environments that were unified around designs found in nature and used organic materials is a valid means to inspire security, creativity, and social interaction.
- Discuss the relevance of the Arts and Crafts ethos on residential design today. For example, well-crafted architectural elements made homes conducive to a more fulfilling life. Having a well-made home of one's own increased a sense of well-being through coziness and having a home of one's own.
- Cites examples of how the Arts and Crafts movement fostered health and wellness in designs. For example, porches were incorporated for access to fresh air for their curative and preventive qualities for health. Soffits and under cabinet spaces were eliminated to inhibit dust and microbial growth.
12:45- 2:15 PM
Luncheon, Raphael Awards and Clem Labine Award Presentations
Honoring the 2025 Clem Labine Award Winner: Lisa Sasser, AIA Raphael Awards Ceremony - Celebrating Architectural Drawing by Hand
Presenter: Peter H. Miller, Hon. AIA, Publisher, Traditional Building
.5 AIA Elective Learning Unit
In May 2023, Traditional Building launched a new drawing competition, the Raphael Awards, named in honor of Raffaello Sanzio da Urbina (1483-1520), a leading painter of the Italian Renaissance who was a renowned draftsman as well. The award seeks to encourage the study of Classical and Neoclassical architecture through the practice of drawing and painting by hand.
The award ceremony will feature images of the winning drawings with remarks from the winners about their hand-drawn architectural drawings.
- Explain the value of hand-drawing to the practice of architecture today.
- Improve observing and drawing buildings, streetscapes, and architectural elements.
2:15 - 6:00 PM
Tours or choice of two educational sessions at the Tappan Hill Mansion
New this year! Choose between AIA elective CEU tours or HSW approved educational sessions for this afternoon only.
3:00 - 4:00 PM
Vacuum Insulated Glazing for Historic Restoration
Speaker: Giovanna Fernandes, Architectural Glass Division, Pilkington North America
1 AIA Health/Safety/Welfare Learning Unit
Windows and their glass are defining characteristics as a traditional building. By deconstructing the basic components (glass, coatings, and design), it is possible to better analyze and understand historic window restoration or repair. The basic levels of performance and aesthetic impact of window design will be described and detailed. This course details how vacuum insulated glazing (VIG) is made and how this differs from traditional glazing. This course will detail some of the differences in VIG technology for window usage, seal, and construction. Case studies on how VIG has been used in historic restoration and key takeaway lessons from the projects will be discussed, including how the use of VIG reduces waste while improving energy efficiency.
- Understand thermal and sound performance factors related to window design.
- Identify alternatives for performance and aesthetics when faced with repair or replacement glass for historic preservation and traditional new products.
- Be able to explain the history and development of glass and insulated glass (IG) products as well as the impact on the internal environment of the building.
- Describe the properties and performance of vacuum insulated glazing (VIG) and other types of glazing and cite lessons learned from case studies of the use of VIG in historic buildings including the carbon impacts.
4:30 - 5:30 PM
Preserving the Integrity of the American Front Porch
Speaker: Thomas C. Tidwell (Chris), Vice President, Aeratis Porch Products
1 AIA Health/Safety/Welfare Learning Unit
Gain an understanding of why new growth wood fails more rapidly when used in exterior living space. This session will explain alternative materials for durability and low maintenance of porches, balconies, and exterior shutters to create sustainable exterior living spaces for single family, multi-family, commercial and government projects.
- Discuss design and planning around the limitations of current material options and high- performance materials which provide traditional tongue and groove porch flooring.
- Learn how to add finishing touches to increase curb appeal and reduce/eliminate long- term maintenance.
- Compare and contrast challenges of traditional materials and the benefits of utilizing high performance synthetics in traditional porch applications.
- Describe the steps for framing and installation options for the different types of application.
2:15 - 6:00 PM
Tours - Choose one
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and Old Dutch Church Tour
Speakers: Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Staff
2 AIA Elective Learning Units
Extensive walking on hilly, uneven terrain, rain, or shine. Please wear sturdy, weather resistant shoes and plan for rain if the forecast calls for it. There is no seating available during the tour.
Cemeteries are important places in any community, especially in historic Sleepy Hollow New York. The Sleepy Hollow cemetery is the final resting place of many leaders in American Arts and Industry. The gates, the chapel, mausoleums, and headstones evoke powerful emotion. During this tour we will learn about recent stone restoration work and visit some important monuments and grave sites: Washington Irving’s burial site, the Receiving Vault, The Revolutionary War Memorial, and the Delavan Angels, among others.
- Consider the development of cemeteries prior to the 20th century in America.
- Reflect on the artistic symbolism found in evolving designs for headstones, monuments, and mausoleums.
- Appreciate the landscape of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.
- Apply lessons learned from recent conservation projects in the cemetery to other projects.
Lyndhurst: Touring a Gothic Revival Masterpiece
Speakers: Lyndhurst docents; Henry J. Duffy, PhD; Curator Emeritus, Saint-Gaudens NHP and consulting art and architectural historian; Stephen Tilly, AIA, CPHC, LEED AP, and Lyndhurst board of directors; Krystyn Hastings - Silver, Assistant Director and Capital Projects Manager, Lyndhurst, National Trust for Historic Preservation.
2.5 AIA Elective Learning Units
Please wear sturdy, weather resistant shoes and plan for rain if the forecast calls for it.
Lyndhurst is often described as the finest Gothic Revival residence in America. Alexander Jackson Davis designed the house for New York politician William Paulding between 1838 and 1842. The house was known as “Knoll.” He returned in 1864 to expand the house, now known as Lyndhurst, for its second owner, George Merritt. The third owner, Jay Gould, commissioned Lord & Burnham to build a fireproof greenhouse out of steel, to replace the wooden one that burned shortly after he purchased the estate. This impressive metal frame remains without glass. The tour will address the rich architectural heritage of several historic buildings on the site, its management and preservation, and include an exploration of the lush grounds and gardens.
- Explain the Gothic Revival style as found in the United States in the mid-19th century.
- Cite problems and solutions to serve thousands of visitors amidst important historic structures, furnishings, and landscapes.
- Describe changes in the property that reflect the needs of owners that have changed over time.
- Experience the health benefits of country retreats designed in the 19th and 20th centuries that can inform design for health-conscious clients today.
Sketching Tour - Lyndhurst
Instructor: David Pearson, David Pearson Architectural Design
2.5 AIA Elective Learning Units
Extensive walking, bring sketch pad, pens, and pencils. Please wear sturdy, weather-resistant shoes. In case of inclement weather, we will sketch from the verandas on the mansion and bowling alley. Limited to twelve people.
The Hudson River is synonymous with the picturesque movement in America. Landscapes, literature, and buildings were created for their views of the natural landscape, designed to inspire awe, relaxation, and invigoration for the well-to-do.
Lyndhurst is often described as the finest Gothic Revival residence in America. Alexander Jackson Davis designed the house for NY politician William Paulding between 1838 and 1842. He returned in 1864 to expand the house, now known as Lyndhurst, for its second owner, George Merritt. The third owner, Jay Gould, commissioned Lord & Burnham to build a fireproof greenhouse out steel to replace the wooden one that burned shortly after he purchased the estate. This impressive metal frame remains without glass. Other buildings include a shingle-style bowling alley, a gatekeeper’s house, a carriage house and more. There is much to draw and much to learn about AJ Davis’s sense of the poetic when he designed the house initially and returned to enhance Lyndhurst. Sketching opportunities abound here.
- Explain why drawing and drafting by hand still trains the eye despite the predominance of computer-driven design today.
- Construct architectural details that will function and look better in situ.
- Design period-inspired buildings based on observation skills that drawing cultivates.
- Improve drawings, whether hand-drawn or done with software, to better communicate with clients, builders, and craftspeople.
5:30 – 5:55 PM Break
6:00 - 7:00 PM
Celebrating Hudson River Valley Architecture
Speaker: William Krattinger, New York State Parks and Sites Historian/Conservator of Architecture
1 AIA Elective Learning Unit
The architectural heritage of the Hudson River Valley spans five centuries and is a conspicuous aspect of the splendor of this region. Hudson River School painters such as Thomas Cole and Frederic Church depicted the region’s river and mountain landscapes and in doing so celebrated the natural beauty of an expanding nation seeking cultural legitimacy. Authors such as Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper penned stories that imbedded fact and myth in the American psyche and celebrated distinct aspects of the American experience. Political, financial, industrial, and mercantile leaders spared no expense to build restorative country villas in close proximity to New York City. Storybook towns emerged around expanding railroad networks; later, parkways offered a growing middle-class respite from the burgeoning New York metropolitan area and access to the valley’s wide array of scenic and cultural assets. This session will share insights into the rich architectural and artistic heritage found in the Hudson River Valley and consider iconic works.
Renowned architects and landscape designers working in the Hudson River Valley between 1830 and 1930 were numerous, among them William Welles Bosworth; A.J. Davis; Delano & Aldrich; A.J. Downing; Richard Morris Hunt; Minard Lafever; McKim, Mead & White; Ogden Codman Jr.; Myron Teller; Richard Upjohn; and Calvert Vaux. Generations of conservators, craftspeople and maintenance staff have labored to protect and preserve this remarkable and diverse concentration of American architecture, from early New World Dutch buildings to picturesque villas to sprawling Beaux Arts mansions. Outstanding examples of vernacular and high-style buildings reflect the diverse history of the inhabitants and the cultural influences that shaped the region’s distinctive architectural heritage.
- Cite prominent leaders of Hudson River Valley architectural design from the 17th through 20th centuries.
- Describe the growth and evolution of the Hudson River Valley over four centuries.
- Explain the role of craftsmanship- local, national, and international- in the durability and splendor found in Hudson River Valley buildings.
- Reflect on the benefits and challenges that the Hudson River Valley faces today in light of the growth of heritage tourism.
7:00 PM
Reception at Tappan Hill Mansion Terrace Overlooking the Hudson River
Wednesday, October 8
8:00 - 9:00 AM Breakfast, Sponsor Exhibits and Networking
9:00 - 9:15 AM Welcome and Introductions
9:15 - 10:15 AM
Acoustics & Fenestration - How Windows & Doors Manage Noise
Speaker: Ted Olear, Territory Sales Manager Kolbe Windows and Doors
1 AIA Health/Safety/Welfare Learning Unit
This course will provide a foundational understanding of how fenestration systems manage sound and how acoustics affect the experience of space. Upon completing the course, individuals will be able to integrate their knowledge of acoustics into their design, especially with windows and doors.
- Describe how sound changes a space, affecting occupants both physically and psychologically.Measure sound with appropriate scales and identify the several ways it can enter the built environment.
- Identify how the key elements of a window and door construction and their interaction with sound are reflected in codes and standards.
- Select windows and doors based on acoustic performance and serve as a resource to clients and collaborators.
10:15 - 10:40 AM Networking and Sponsor Exhibits Break
10:40 - 11:45 AM
Building a Home to Last: Lessons from the Creative Process...and from Life
Speaker: Gil Schafer, AIA, Schafer Buccellato Architects, New York, NY
1 AIA Health/Safety/Welfare Learning Unit
For thirty years, award-winning architect and bestselling author Gil Schafer has designed houses that meet the demands of the current moment and are also designed to endure. Mr. Schafer has an
understanding that a house is ultimately, never meant to be about its architect, but about those people whose days and lives will unfold within its walls. His clients attest to this!
In his new book, Home At Last: Enduring Design for the New American House, Gil welcomes readers into a series of new homes, across the country, sharing how his own design evolution has increased his appreciation for the richness, and messiness of modern life. Join Gil Schafer for this lavishly illustrated presentation as he opens the doors to these memorable spaces, offering practical advice on craftsmanship and creativity. He will tell us about the stories, tastes, and lives of his clients that come together in homes that will last for generations to come.
Noon - 12:55 PM Lunch and Sponsor Exhibits
12:55 - 2:00 PM
Banking on Preservation: Investing in Hospitality
Speakers: Matthew Mueller, AIA; Partner, PBDW Architects, New York, NY and Shawn Basler, AIA, Co-CEO and Executive Director, Perkins and Eastman, New York, NY
1 AIA Health/Safety/Welfare Learning Unit
The speakers will present The Fifth Avenue Hotel, a new luxury hotel in the Madison Square North Historic District in New York City, which included an adaptive reuse of McKim Mead & White's historic 1907 bank building as well as building addition. This 23-story hotel tower addition sits adjacent to McKim Mead & White’s historic 1907-1913 bank, and atop the two-story rear addition of the historic bank, offering a mix of elegantly designed suites and rooms. The Fifth Avenue Hotel draws inspiration from the history of this site and completes a century-old progression of the site’s development.
While as of right, the initial explorations of the new tower possibilities were challenging. Informal consultations with the Landmarks Preservation Commission questioned the scale of a new tower adjacent to the historic property and how it would fit into the context. However, concentrated historic research was used to present a message to the Landmarks Commission that an as of right tower was not only appropriate, but contextual to the historic district.
To create a luxury boutique hotel on New York City’s iconic Fifth Avenue at West 28th Street, the design firms of PBDW and Perkins Eastman gave new life to a historic building. Working with the owner and operator, the team developed a new destination which blended historic restoration with contemporary additions to create one of the most celebrated hotels in New York City.
Inside the new hotel, guests are welcomed into a vaulted two-story space within the re-adapted banking hall which hosts the signature restaurant Café Carmellini. Private dining rooms, lounge, ballroom, and spacious suites overlook Fifth Avenue, providing a relaxing atmosphere in the heart of the city.
- Conduct research to support proposed additions, alterations, and restorations to historic buildings in established historic neighborhoods.
- Explain how additions and alterations provide adaptive reuse opportunities for historic buildings.
- Strategize for ways in which adaptive reuse to luxury hotels can support urban revitalization and neighborhood transformation.
- Realize the advantages of adaptive use of historic buildings to create unique destinations with a story.
2:15 - 6:00 PM
Tours - Choose one
Touring Washington Irving’s Sunnyside Home
Speakers: Historic Hudson River Valley docents
1.5 AIA Elective Learning Units
Renowned author of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Washington Irving settled in Tarrytown, New York in 1832. He purchased a 17th century, Dutch stone house. With assistance from painter George Harvey, Irving fashioned a romanticized house and garden that would inspire both A.J. Downing and A.J. Davis. We will explore the architectural delights of Irving’s home where, from 1832 till 1859, he welcomed authors and artists from around the world.
- Explain the architectural significance of Sunnyside.
- Relate the design of Sunnyside to the later work of Downing and Davis who cultivated the Gothic Revival in America in the mid-19th century.
- Experience romantic architecture and the natural landscape at a modest scale. Recall its power when designing new work or working on Gothic Revival properties.
- Describe the combined impact of authors, landscape designers, architects, and painters on the Romantic and Picturesque periods in American cultural history. Or
Kykuit Tour – Neoclassicism and Modern Art
Speakers: Kykuit docents and Stephen Tilly, AIA, CPHC, LEED AP
2 AIA Elective Learning Units
Delano and Aldrich designed a Georgian manor house for John D. Rockefeller in 1902. We will visit the house, gardens, and coach barn during this tour. The house and gardens feature the modern art collection of the late New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. The formal neoclassical house has a commanding view of the Hudson River.
- Apply lessons learned from the ongoing restoration of the Coach Barn.
- Explain the architectural significance of Kykuit, its gardens and coach barn.
- Discuss the problems and solutions of adapting a private residence into a cultural center visited by thousands of people annually.
- Consider how buildings are sited when designing large estates in historic landscapes with important views.