The son of an architect, Russell Hamlet grew up in Vermont creating various buildings on the family farm. After graduating from architecture school, he moved to the West Coast to work on a really big house; six years later, he moved on to his next project. Russ lives with his wife and son in a 1240-sq.-ft. house on Bainbridge lsland, Wash., and thinks that the choices we make when we build houses affect the environment as much as their occupants. In his practice (www.studiohamlet.com), Russ strives for creative solutions that limit impact on the land, and has worked on a series of small, LEED-certified spec houses. When not at work, Russ scouts out fresh back-country powder to ski through.
