After a couple of decades living and working in several of the world's major cities – London, Berlin, Hong Kong and New York City – Rona Easton and Lonn Combs found their way to the Hudson Valley, and on to the Berkshires. EASTON+COMBS, their business partnership, is an award-winning, internationally recognized architectural office, with a studio in New Marlborough, where they are focusing on innovation in energy-efficient residential-scale projects. Rona shares their story. After my architectural studies in Glasgow and London, I moved to Berlin directly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Lonn and I met during that time, and at the end of the 1990s we made our way to New York City. Lonn did his Master’s studies at Columbia University, and we both worked for large architectural firms. In 2011, after over a decade in the city, we left for Rome upon Lonn being awarded the Rome Prize in Architecture by The American Academy in Rome. We spent an unforgettable two years there, researching, teaching, traveling and learning. Upon our return to the US we wanted to maintain our connection to New York City, but to expand our lives into a rural setting where we could not only experience a life that we both had always enjoyed, but also grow professionally and further develop our client base.
Lonn Combs, Rona Easton and their son, Cass.
Many of the artists we had met through the American Academy had told stories of relocating to the Hudson Valley and the Berkshires. So, funnily enough, we learned about the great sense of community here amongst artists, writers and others through that experience in Rome. We also had come to connect this sense of community – where artists, thinkers, writers and designers share their ideas and passions – with the Slow Food and Farm-to-Table movements, personified by Mona Talbott, the amazing chef who revolutionized the food culture at the American Academy with her Rome Sustainable Food Project and who now has a shop in Hudson. We scoured the region for land to build on, and were eventually drawn to a small property in New Marlborough in a uniquely beautiful location on the Konkapot River. We plan to remove the existing 1970's ranch house and re-use its foundation for a modest but state-of-the-art energy-efficient house; a model of what one can achieve with new sustainable design approaches, efficient building systems and smart and affordable energy systems. We enjoy skiing at Butternut, and hiking on the Appalachian Trail and in Beartown State Forest. At the same time that our son is getting an excellent education at Berkshire Country Day School, we can eat world-class food in small-town restaurants such as Inn on the Green, visit the Clark Art Museum, and meet a host of extraordinary people. While living here offers all of these advantages, we also are aware that the Berkshires is a place not without its share of challenges, economic and social, which can be easy to forget amidst the bucolic countryside. We have recently begun working with the Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity on a pro bono basis, supporting their effort to raise the bar in high-efficiency design and construction of affordable housing. On a personal level, we could not be happier with what the area has offered us. We are excited to contribute to the community we have found here.
