Jim, Author at Water Shapes

The hope-challenged hamlet of Wyandanch, N.Y., needed something special to set it on a new path, writes Joseph Serpe, and that’s what he and his working partners provided in the form of a wilderness-themed spray park filled with interactive waterfeatures – and two big trees.

Community in Action

When New York's Long Island comes up in conversation, most people think about the Hamptons, exclusive summer resorts, incredible estates and beaches by the mile. But that image has a flip side: For many years, in fact, Wyandanch, a hamlet within the town of Babylon, N.Y., has been a community that has had very little go its way, with poverty-stricken streets, gang activity and not much going on that would make its citizens hopeful about

Working around a prominent architect's work can be a treat, observes Raymond Jungles -- and it gets even better when the canvas you're approaching is an unusually large property set amid a tropical paradise.

Seaside Luxury

Established as a wealthy man's weekend playground, this scenic, seven-acre slice of paradise on the Atlantic side of Islamorada in the Florida Keys is routinely used as the setting for fashion photography, commercials and films because of the archetypal way it expresses the "Keys Lifestyle." I was brought on board by Steve Siskind, the architect who designed the house. (He's done some spectacular residences through the years, but interestingly, he's never lived in a house and instead

Up with Water!

When I come across headlines about technological breakthroughs, I generally decide about reading further based upon the subject's relevance to what I do either as a private person or as a professional - and I have to say that, most times, I never get past the bold print. A couple weeks back, however, I was intrigued enough by