The Digest | New Jersey Magazine
Issue link: https://magazines.vuenj.com/i/1023248
Despite his love of and attraction to many of the coastal New Jersey homes he sketched as a child, Asher knew, early on, that there was a need for improvement in this real estate-driven market. His desire to better the places he knew had such wonderful potential precipitated the New Urbanism philosophy that underlies Asher and Slaunwhite's firm. According to Asher, "e echo of New Urbanism stems from our recognition that, in these densely populated towns, houses should have a relationship to one another. We're not town planners per se, although we've had any number of our zoning suggestions adopted, but we saw the more historic coastal cottages as touchstones. We wanted to calm things down. Turrets, gewgaws and pebbled yards were replaced with green lawns and inviting front porches. Our homes didn't fight for attention but had a quieter, more timeless quality. We strived for and pushed clients to use richer materials and encouraged the builders to elevate the crasmanship and attention to detail. ese are the elements of good architecture." While she attended the University of Notre Dame, Slaunwhite studied a traditional architecture curriculum. Upon graduating, she interned at Curtis and Windham Architects in Houston, Texas, where she designed her first project–a detailed, classically proportioned Doric order room. Her work on this difficult project impacted one family in a positive way and paved the way for hundreds of more projects that would continue to impact and improve upon the lives of others. Slaunwhite's talent, her commitment to the vision of Asher Architects, and her leadership role in numerous design projects earned her the title of partner in 2018. With Mark Asher and Deborah Slaunwhite at the helm and a creative team of talented architects working alongside them, it comes as no surprise that Asher Slaunwhite Architects continues to design quality homes and buildings both along the shore and inland. With a unique talent for seeing beyond the individual project, while envisioning structures that assimilate into and enrich their existing communities, the Asher Slaunwhite firm creates buildings that are icons of quality and crasmanship–structures that pay homage to the communities in which they reside.