Old Canaan Building Materials

Old Canaan Building Materials is a reference for the materials, finishes, and components of traditional New England architecture. It exists because that reference did not.

The knowledge of what makes a Connecticut farmhouse look right — the specific grade of gravel on the drive, the profile of the clapboard, the weight of the copper on the gutters — has always lived in the heads of old builders and the sample rooms of good architects. It was not somewhere findable. Old Canaan makes it findable.

Every entry is written from practice, not from research. The materials described here are materials specified on real projects, sourced from real suppliers, observed over time in a New England climate. When something is named, it is named exactly. When something is not known precisely, it is said so.

Old Canaan is written by Chris Carr, an architect licensed for over a decade across multiple states. Chris holds a Master of Architecture from the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, where he graduated cum laude. He is based in Connecticut.

His practice sits at the intersection of architecture, planning, and building — with a particular interest in how material choices shape the quality and longevity of the places people live. He works on traditional and historically grounded projects, and has spent years specifying the materials documented in this archive.

We do not sell products. We identify them. We never recommend something we would not specify ourselves. We never guess. If we do not know something precisely, we say so and we find out.

Material suggestions are welcome. Use the suggest form on any entry page, or write directly at chris@girardhouse.com.