Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Updating a Historic Upper Red Hook Home

Front of House keeps its traditional Paltine look
Side View shows the traditional front and the expanded back wing

This project was a fun transformation. The home is an old Palatine home "Stella Farm" from the mid 1800s. My clients loved their weekend retreat but knew that maintanence had been defered and wished for the place to be more up to date and gracious. The design accomplished these updates while maintaining much of the old-world feel inside and toward the street.

Raised Roof over the Back Wing with New Windows


The home had a small, closed off kitchen that we expanded by removing the walled off laundry area and steep back stair. We added a triple french glass door from this beautiful new kitchen to the existing deck. Old timbers were applied to the ceiling to mimic the historic beams and the existing WIDE (really wide) board floors were refinished. The laundry was stacked in a closet and the first floor bathroom, which was akward under the stair, became a pretty wall-papered powder room.

New Expanded Kitchen with Glass Door to Deck

Sitting Area end of Kitchen with Existing Fireplace and doors to Screened Porch

Dining Nook end of Kitchen

The home's second floor was low and chopped up into strange rooms without many windows or privacy and only one bathroom. We raised the floor level and the roof over the back wing, adding height, space and light- and allowing for large windows with a view toward the pond. 

Dormer in small bedroom added height and three windows

New Back Bedroom

Existing Front Bedroom

After the renovation the home now has two large bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms and one of the two smaller bedrooms got a dormer and windows added to what was once a short, blank wall. The hall and hall bathroom also received an update.

Hall Bath 

EnSuite Bathroom from Bedroom

Powder Room



   

Kitchen - Before






Kitchen - Before
My clients say it feels like a whole new house! 
It has more connection to the views of the beautiful property and a better functioning floor plan.  And all this was accomplished without any increase in the footprint, just roof changes to gain more area. The home still looks and feels like itself- historic- but in a more thoughtful way. The side and front-facing windows remain double-hung style with divided lites, but for the new windows toward the back larger casement units were used to allow unobstructed views toward the pond. The exterior yellow vinyl siding was removed and white clapboards installed, the existing back screened porch and open front porch remained and were repaired, insulation was added, and the mechanical system was changed to inconspicuous, efficient heat pumps.

Garden and Privacy Fence around Heat Pumps







when the roof was torn off

during construction

Taller Wall/ Dormer adds Windows


Before the dormer


Hallway to New Back Bedroom

Built-in Shower replaces Tub

Saturday, October 5, 2024

Updating the Exterior


These clients already had a great location and a pretty great house when they called me, but...





 
    
 
But the cedar shingle siding and wood framed windows were rotting. The living room, especially (with it's four exterior walls) was very cold and drafty in winter and hot in summer. The house was not well insulated or air sealed at all. It also had odd, high window placement toward the front and no windows to the side. They wanted the entire place to look more modern from the exterior, to feel like the interior felt with their minimalist Danish Modern furnishings and lighting. And they wanted a patio off the Dining area on the north side of the house -that area of the yard was never used and felt sort of like an afterthough.


New glass door from Dining

Since they had already purchased and installed "Craftsman Style" doors to the garage, and they were drawn to dark siding colors, I suggested we go for a "Modern Craftsman" vibe. We could use some brackets and gable pediments on some roofs and over doors to add architectural detail. I also suggested if we were removing and replacing all the windows and siding, we really should then also take the time and spend the money to properly airseal and insulate the 70s era construction to be more energy efficient and comfortable.




Here are photos of the project before, during, and after. A total transformation with the "Iron Grey" vertical Hardi siding from the weathered large exposure, dated (and insect-eaten!) shingle siding. New Ebony Marvin Elevate windows and industrial style barn lights lean toward the contemporary. I changed the window layout in the living room and entryway- adding tall windows to the east and south in the living room where there were none before. I added a new sliding glass door to connect the Living Room to the back deck. I added a new sliding glass door to the north, with it's own small roof overhang detail, to connect the dining and kitchen area to a new patio in that under-used area of the yard. I designed some stepped planters to avoid having to add railing that might block the lake and mountaian view from the new decks. And I dressed up the basement door area with a roof overhang that helps direct water away (along with a new drain) from the foundation, offers shade from the harsh western sun, and visually breaks up the tall elevation where the basement is exposed above grade. The fireplace chimney received new stone and a metal chimeny cap- upgrades that made it more energy efficient, safer, and more beautiful, since the bricks were in disrepair. Spiffy new galvanized half-round gutters and leaders were installed so this big roof is ready for the large downpours that happen more and more frequently.

 



In terms of efficency upgraades, once the siding and old windows were removed, a fluid applied flashing and air barrier was applied everywhere. (Yes, the neighbors did wonder aloud if pink was the final house color.) This meticulous work will be well worth it when the winter winds whip off the lake and mountains to the west. This surface is also the WRB, meaning that any water will be excluded from entering the wall, which will protect our new windows from having the same issue as the previous units did. Next a rain screen was created, to allow the siding to stay dry. Then rigid boards of insulation (rockwool) are installed to add much-needed R-value to the walls.  New vertical cementitious board and batten and shingle style siding and trim was installed with mimimal1x2 casing around the windows all in a monocromatic color. The A/C was an old system that is replaced with efficient heat pumps, and the underside of the existing roof deck throughout the home was also insulated.






















Monday, December 11, 2023

Transformation

 Adding space by going up can help stretch the budget. There is framing of walls and roofs, but no excavation or foundation work required. This project did just that and the change in feeling and function is HUGE. Taking the opportunity to redesign the window and roof arrangement and change the vinyl siding materials to solid materials allowed for a whole new look. Removing fussy porch railing and wrapping roof and too-thin posts and installing new lighting and doors helped us take a mundane suburban modular house and transform it into a chic modern farmhouse.

New Modern Farmhouse 

During Construction - view from NW

During Construction - view from SW

Front of House Before

A large playroom was added above the garage (right side) and a primary bedroom suite was added above the other one story area on the north/left side of the house. With all this extra space and new bathrooms upstairs, this family didn't need to add to the footprint of the home. The living room will be so much larger when all the kids toys are up in the playroom!



Before- Front Garage Section

New Playroom above

The original vinyl windows that came with this modular home were not performing well, and the interior trimwork was more 'builder colonial' than the updated style my clients wanted. So new black-on-the-exterior windows with sa single vertical divided lite '2 over 2' pattern were ordered and installed with new painted square-edge interior trim. The update is dramatic!

New clean white window casing

New Dormer in New Bedroom

Former Window & Trim Style 
that was replaced

Back of House

Back of house- BEFORE the 2 additions



When the project is complete (soon!) I will head back for final photos and post them to share. In these snap shots try to ignore the piles of building materials and the sections of unpainted trim. :)

New Back Door 
New Front Door