Site size: 60 acres Project size: 1,400 square feet Program: When architect Brian MacKay-Lyons heard that a 180-year-old schoolhouse from his childhood hometown in Nova Scotia was in dire condition, he intervened. The architect and his wife, Marilyn, decided to purchase the schoolhouse and convert it into a charming winter home for their family. Location: Mackay-Lyons, principal at MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects, dismantled and transported the schoolhouse from its original site in the middle of a pasture in Chebogue, Nova Scotia to the architect's farm in Kingsburg, nearly 200 miles away. In its new location, the schoolhouse is part of a

Most architects say they start each project with a blank slate.