Johnston House Studio

Featured Projects

  • Exterior of a modern home in Westborough, MA, featuring black siding with sienna-colored wood around the entry on the lower right

    Westborough House

    This project replaced the exterior siding and highlighted the main entrance, which was previously difficult to find.

  • A black and white hand drawing of a proposed addition to an 1830s farmhouse in Vermont

    Newbury Farmhouse

    An addition to a home built in the 1830s to increase living space and help circulation flow.

  • A nearly-finished red barn with two garage doors

    Vermont Barn

    A new 2-car garage with living space above meant to look like it’s always been there.

About Us

Esther Hodges-LeClaire founded Johnston House Studio in 2024 after spending eleven years working in the architecture industry in Boston, Massachusetts. Originally from the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, Esther now lives in Haverhill, New Hampshire. Esther thinks that good design should be available to everyone, since the architecture and design of the spaces we all live in directly affect our day-to-day life.

Johnston House Studio was founded to provide architectural and design services to northern New England. Our mission is to provide sustainable, accessible design that is rooted in place.

Johnston House Studio is named after the historic home Esther and her family live in - the Johnston House, built in 1791.

Esther is a member of the American Institute of Architects, and is a registered architect in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. She received her Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Master of Architecture from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts. She previously worked as a Project Architect at ART Architects, also in Boston.