Q: You in denial? That's not a psychologist's query. It's the opening of a joke.

A: No, not in denial. In the Connecticut River.

Whatever you think of the gag, it's apt for Peter Coombs. He lives on the Connecticut River, he was just made a trustee on the Connecticut River Museum, and he piloted his Tripp Angler bass boat along the river to the museum dock for his first official board session.

It's been a year of change for the museum under new executive director Chris Dobbs, who took over last November. The museum provided the new setting for Essex Rotary's annual shad bake; for the first time it also hosted a number of new programs, among them this summer's boat-building workshop and an upcoming Halloween-themed evening featuring a bit of Essex history, along with some real spirits (in this case vodka and hard cider tastings).

Peter looks out onto the Connecticut River every day from the office he shares with his wife, Jane Siris. Both are architects. After more than three decades in Manhattan, the two moved themselves and their business headquarters to Essex.

The view they enjoy now is quite a change from their New York office, from "a lot of graffiti-sprayed panel trucks; now the river, Great Meadow-it's an inspirational, quiet atmosphere," Peter says.

Still, with clients in the city, he usually goes to New York once a week.

In Manhattan, his architecture firm was known for its work with penthouses and townhouses, though Peter has designed structures for academic and commercial use as well. In Essex, the work has been residential, including the house they now live in. It was built on the site of an older house that Peter's late parents, Philip and Helena Coombs, had lived in for many years.

While the house was under construction, the Connecticut River also figured importantly in Peter and Jane's residential life: They lived on a 33-foot sailboat moored in the river. Peter has since sold the sailboat for the wooden powerboat he now has. He bought the powerboat, a vintage 1978 craft, in Massachusetts and piloted it down to Essex, with a companion.

"During a storm," he adds.

He has since restored much of the boat's teak trim, painted the hull, and replaced old parts.

Originally, Peter and Jane had planned to expand his parents' old home, but discovered the foundation was too compromised for any new construction.

"I had really mixed emotions about tearing down the old house. I loved it. We used to visit my parents there," Peter says.

He adds that there was no bigger booster of the new home than his own mother, who loved the spacious feeling of the new structure.

Peter's present house is a gold-level LEED-certified home (LEED certification on different levels refers to the energy efficiency of structures and the use of sustainable and renewable resources). Environmentally sensitive construction engages Peter in all the work that he does.

"I am genuinely interested in sustainability and not doing damage to the earth," he says.

He is an active member of the Essex Land Trust, who works with the group on its annual river cleanup project. He also serves on the board of the Essex Elderly and Affordable Housing Corporation.

Though his full-time move to Essex is relatively recent, Peter has known this area since he was a child. His father, Philip, an economist and education expert, was closely associated with Chester Bowles, the diplomat, United States Congressman, and one-time governor of Connecticut, who had a home in Essex. There were summer visits to the Bowles's home at Hayden's Point-"A wonderful annual event, a great gathering, with children staying in tents and discussions going on all the time about all sorts of things," Peter recalls.

At college at Amherst, Peter initially thought he would become an economist, as his father was. He soon changed to American studies, thinking that would be a way into urban planning, but he also liked to draw, an interest urban planning didn't satisfy.

An undergraduate architecture course introduced him to the career he ultimately chose. He recalls a summer job in college for an architectural firm in Boston, which also had an office in Amherst. Peter had the key to that office and during the college year, would go there to do homework and pretend that the office belonged to him.

Peter earned his architecture degree and met Jane, also a student, at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture. The couple has two grown children, Annie, now also an architect working for a New York firm, and Tim, an inventor who has developed a denim fiber made from recycled plastic bottles that is being used to create fashionable clothing.

Garments made from the denim fiber were recently featured as part of New York City's bi-annual fashion week. Beyond high tech denim, Tim is the father of Peter's first grandchild.

The business of architecture has changed radically since Peter began his career. The work that was once done with a pencil and straightedge is now done with computer programs. Peter, nonetheless, still likes to draw by hand.

"When clients see things drawn by hand, they don't think the plans are set in stone. They are comfortable proposing changes," he says.

Over the decades, Peter says he and Jane have developed the balance needed to keep a professional life and a marriage going.

"We've learned to accept each other's ideas; we recognize who has the better idea and there's much more communication between us than there was in the very early days," he says.

Jane uses her maiden name, so inevitably there is someone who refers to Peter as Peter Siris. It doesn't bother him.

"Yes, we are married and we are proud of both names, Siris/Coombs Architects," he says.

For information on upcoming events, including the fall ball Rio on the River, visit

www.ctrivermuseum.org.