The project adapts a traditional American Foursquare home for the needs of a young family. The design finds opportunity in the existing low function and low value spaces of the 1920’s home by transforming the existing spaces to accommodate their growing family and connect the house to the outdoors. This low cost renovation focuses on improving the existing home first, increasing home equity, and setting the stage for the clients to utilize a HELOC to finance a new addition in 5 years.
Service program is consolidated in a central core, consolidating infrequently used spaces to the interiors of the home, increasing storage and functionality, and freeing up the exterior wall for new windows and increased natural daylight. Each room now has a unique shape in contrast to the original house which featured disconnected, orthogonal rooms. The primary structure of the house is maintained through these interventions, allowing construction costs to be minimized. Materials are used strategically to bring focus to the central core and denote circulation elements.
On the first floor, the kitchen and dining room are combined into one space, doubling counter space and kitchen storage; and a new glass sliding wall opens to a back deck; the half bath is right sized and a mud room is added. In the living room a reading nook is added, new windows increase connection to the south facing back yard, and a built in desk is added on the north wall.
On the second floor, the existing half and full bathrooms are turned into a master bath and larger full bath, closet space is increased, and skylights are added to bring in more natural light. In the guest and kid’s bedroom, storage and the beds are built into the wall so that the rooms can have more usable space during the daytime. A new wrap-around porch connects the exterior of the house, bringing clarity to the form of the house, providing space for outdoor entertainment, and shading the expansive glass windows from solar heat gain in summer months.
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