|
|
|
| We
started with the large, front gable and made that the focus
of the front facade. A large porch stair centered on the gable
and reinforced the entry into the house. This required moving
the driveway to the front. |
|
| The
driveway then continued around the house to the new garage location
where the everyday functions were grouped together. This kept
the functional areas out of the way of the formal, front entry
as well as away from the pool and deck in the back. With the
requirement for additional outside parking (the kids were growing
up) we put a new back door entrance to the side of the garage
where the mudroom connects the new garage to kitchen. Extending
the front porch to this back entry created the wrap-around porch. |
 |
 |
| The
“wrap” layout was taking
shape but we needed to create a consistent aesthetic and
massing. We looked to the roofs and base to give a strong
overall organization to the outside appearance. Stone
dug from within the property was used to create a consistent
masonry base around the entire house. At the front entry,
the stone was used at the main stair and the stair side
walls. |
|
|
| Along
the porch, the stone rose up as piers to hold up the multiple
columns. The stone continued around the garage and deck. At
the family room, the stone rose to the height of the entire
first floor thus giving the entertainment room with bedroom
above a strong presence from the side street. Then the stone
dropped down again and was replaced with windows and wood detailing
to create the bright, airy effect of the sunroom portion of
the entertainment room. |
|
| |
| All
the new roofs took their cues from the original roofs: New roofs
were all pitched; Soffits were made very deep; Fascia boards
were made very wide and for a little extra touch, new brackets
were added to old and new soffits. In addition to the roofs,
the massing of the new components was studied carefully. The
front gable gave the house a formal focus. The mass was then
broken down by adding the one story porch and sunroom. This
allowed the larger reading while also offering a smaller, personal
scale. In the back, the massing was designed to feel like successive
additions which reduced in size from the main house roof to
the bedroom roof gables to the garage roof to the horizontal
laundry windows and finally to the deck. Again, this allowed
the massing to change from the larger, whole house reading down
to the personal scale at the rear yard. |
|
|
|
| Altogether,
the design created a unified aesthetic for the entire house
inspired by the best design elements of the original structure.
Major credit goes to the homeowners for their serious interest
in good design. Also, credit must be given to them for their
extreme patience. They actually lived in the house during construction.
At one point early on, the entire perimeter was excavated like
a moat. |
|
|
As with all good castles, every moat gets a drawbridge. Every
day, the drawbridge was raised and lowered to accommodate
the comings and goings of the homeowners while not disturbing
the work of the masons and carpenters. Work and home life
coexisted while the house received its extreme makeover.
Eventually,
the drawbridge disappeared, the construction came to an end,
the plantings were in, and the homeowners were happy.
And
that, as we say, is a wrap. |
|
| |
