Part 2: Modern Addition and Renovation to Classic Village Ranch- AFTER

To read Part 1 of this Post (and see the BEFORE photos and demolition floor plan) click on this link:
http://cwb-architect.blogspot.com/2016/09/modern-addition-and-renovation-to.html

To solve some of the issues and meet the needs of the current family living here, I designed a  17' x 32' single floor addition on the northeast side of the house. I set it 29' back from the front wall of the current house, so the front room would have more privacy from the street, and so the new master bedroom could have a door leading to the existing back deck. In addition, this "recessed" placement allowed for a new side entry door that one day can lead to a detached garage or carport in the right side yard. (A covered place for parking the car was part of the original design and a reason they hired me, but the owners decided not to build it at this time)

Larger windows toward the back (see new A/C heat pump)

New Addition w/ vertical dark gray siding and Ebony Windows

Since the exterior of the house (built in stages) was already a variety of different materials and not really matching, I decided it would be fun for the exterior form, color, and materials of the addition to be different as well and more contemporary. Instead of a more traditional gable roof, I designed the new roof to be a low-pitch shed that lays atop a side of the existing gable roof on the back. I used a dark color (to further recede) of vertical "board and batten" style siding and windows clad in black to add to the modern aesthetic.

New Addition - Back View

The new space has two bedrooms and 3 large walk-in closets. (A lack of adequate storage space is a typical issue with older homes.) The ceiling in the new rooms soar upward to follow the slope of the roof-line. (Changing ceiling height is a great way to vary space - especially here in a ranch home where all spaces had the same flat ceiling height.) High, square windows dot along the front elevation, with larger windows on the more private side and back of the house. A a glass door with a transom window above is located in the highest wall at the back of the master bedroom to connect to the deck. An exposed engineered wood beam supports the long roof rafters above that door at 10' above the floor, adding some interest.

Master Bedroom w/ exposed beam, vaulted ceiling, & door to deck

Part of the existing interior area of the home was demolished and renovated. The large wheel-chair accessible bathroom (14.5' x 12.5') and small bedroom closet were removed and all that space was incorporated into the back room, which will be used as a family room. With that room getting so much bigger, I could cut off the north corner of it and make that space into a new beautiful bathroom for the 2 new bedrooms to share.

Family Room (same glass door to same deck as in before pics - but room is a different shape

The existing front room (that at one point was a garage) changed use to become a home office with a large storage closet for files. The out-dated small bathroom behind that room became a new half-bath (and got a window) off the family room space and near the new side entry. A coat closet and relocated laundry is tucked behind a pocket door off a new connecting service hall helping the flow of how one can get from one space to another. In my designs I work to layout hallways and doorways to make interior views that line up with windows for views and light. This makes spaces feel larger and more inviting. This project shows that adding just a little space, but re-configuring it to work better, can make a big difference in a small home.

Laundry -moved to service hall

Entry Hall- more open & uncluttered

New window in powder room adds light

 

New "service" hall connects front to back

Master Bedroom door to deck in high wall- transom above adds light and a unique feature

View down hall from new Master Bedroom aligns with square window facing the street

Modern Addition and Renovation to Classic Village Ranch- BEFORE

This project is located in a small village neighborhood. The existing home is a quality older ranch (all rooms on ground/same level) that has a stucco finish on it's exterior and nice wood floors, arched openings, and brick fireplace on the interior. What was originally a front loading garage space had been incorporated into a finished room and a bathroom at some point. Then, in the 1980s or 90s an addition was made to the back of the garage part of the structure to enable a wheelchair-bound person to live there. A large bedroom, ramp entrance, wide doorways, and handicapped-accessible bathroom fixtures were part of that project. This addition matches the light grey exterior color of the rest of the house, but has clapboards rather than stucco as the exterior material.

All the changes made over time to this older ranch weren't as well thought out as they could be, plus the new owners wanted some additional space and didn't love the institutional look of the master bathroom and didn't need a bathroom that used up so much space. I took measurements and started designing some different layouts to reconfigure the existing space and add on again to gain some new space and organize the layout/function of rooms better.

BEFORE PIC Existing View- Front

BEFORE PIC Existing View- Back (left side gable addition & deck was added in late 20th century)

BEFORE PIC Area with single window to right of red door used to be a garage

BEFORE PIC - Inside the room that was a garage looking toward street

BEFORE PIC- Handicap Accessible Bathroom felt institutional

BEFORE PIC- Entry Hall had laundry and many different doors making it feel cluttered

BEFORE PIC- Room added to the back doubled as family room and master bedroom

BEFORE PIC- Looking toward closed-off/outdated bathroom in back of original garage (a window was probably there when it was a garage and before the 1990s addition covered it over)

 Partial Demolition Plan- shows former garage door on street side

The partial demolition plan above shows the side of the house that the work will focus on. In the front you see the room that was once was a garage and was currently being used as a child's bedroom. The original ranch (floor plan is cut off, but toward the left you see the kitchen in the front and an office in the back) does have 3 small bedrooms and a hall bathroom. Those bedrooms were being used as an office/studio for each adult and a guest bedroom. Behind that garage-turned-bedroom was a small windowless bathroom that was in poor repair. Toward the back of the entry hall was a bit of a jumble of doors and the appliances for the laundry jutted out of their closet - making for a cluttered space to walk-through. Behind this is the addition that was built for the person in the wheelchair. The bedroom and bathroom are very large for that reason, but for the current occupants those rooms felt awkward and wasted  a lot of space. The family living there didn't need 3 full baths, and did want a family room/flexible space for older visiting children, a larger office for working from home, and 2 bedrooms near enough to each other for their youngest child, but still with some separation from the rest of the house, the guest and working spaces, and the street.

In my next post, I'll show you the renovation and addition I designed to solve all these issues and how it all turned out... stay tuned!

NHND to the Pond - Hiding the Garage

Garage is set back behind the house to make it less prominent

 The New House Next Door to the Pond has a floor plan layout that minimizes the visual impact of the garage. The garage is large (36'x28') to enclose 2 parked vehicles in addition to a myriad of outdoor recreational equipment. It is a separate building tucked behind the house, on the north side, so as not to block sunlight from the house or unfavorably shade the yard.

Partial Plan above shows Garage tucked behind house with an exterior roofed connection corridor to Mud Room

Scaled for vehicles, garages can distract from the design of a house

 The garage structure also has a full width porch 12' deep along it's west side. This exterior covered space can be used for wood storage, bike tune-ups, as a staging area when packing or unpacking from a trip, and it may even house a hot tub. On a steeply sloped site, it provides a level patio-type area that could even become an outdoor living space off the back yard.

Long Garage Roof covers porch on it's west end. See the back of the house beyond

The garage is connected to the house with a narrow roof over a stone path leading to a small back deck and the mudroom entry door. This will likely provide the everyday entry for the family living here- whether they commute to school or work via bike or car.

Semi-Detached Garage on right with connecting roof leading to Mud Room in house

As an architect, I think this is a good compromise to the alternative of an attached garage or a garage in the basement of a house- both of which have their own architectural challenges. This layout of a semi-detached garage affords the house it's own anonymity and allows a more human-scale massing and detailing. (a house is built for people, a garage is built for cars - much different scale! Click HERE to see a post on why the attached garage is referred to as the "uninvited guest that never left".)

On a physical level, the connecting roof provides protection from the elements as one transitions to and from home - and on a psychological level "transition zones" such as porches, mudrooms, entry halls, etc. give one time and space to shift from in to out. See my website for more about my theory of transition zones here: CWB-architect

NHND to the Pond Framing Update

Front of the House - Screen Porch on left/west, Gable Roof for Front Porch

 

Lots has been happening at the New House Next Door to the Pond. The foundation for the garage is poured. The garage walls and roofs are framed. Forms are in place for pouring a large retaining wall. The front porch roof rafters and screen/sun porch roof rafters are in place. Some of the wall sheathing (which is insulated sheathing, offering continuous insulation - see former post HERE to read about CI) is being installed, as well as the roof sheathing to help keep it dry inside through all these summer thundershowers. (wall sheathing is green, roof sheathing is red) These solid surfaces help you see the shapes of the building more clearly in the photos while also starting to show the dormer design, window seat bump-outs in eating area and master bedroom, and window placement and size. You can see/feel how the light and views will be connected between inside and out as well as some of the intricacies of the massing. (exciting stuff!)

Back of the House - Dormer pops up in roof for stairway

Bump-out Window Seat in Master Bedroom Wing- Long Southern Dormer for Second Floor Bedrooms

Garage Wall poured and interior tamped down and ready for slab pour

Garage Walls & Roof Framed

Screen/Sun Porch- Looking toward Pond and Sunset Views

Stair Landing Window Frames Wooded View

Framing at the New House Next to the Pond

Here is an update on The New House Next to the Pond.

The last post (click HERE to read) showed the site work and the footings - photos of dirt and concrete without too much to help you envision the beautiful house that will be there... But now we have insulated foundation walls and the first floor system and first floor walls framed.

View from Southwest / Driveway approach

In the photo above you can see the walk-out basement room on the left that looks toward the pond. Dirt and a retaining wall will bring the grade higher than it looks now, so that the front porch will only be 3 steps up. You can see the cardboard sonotubes sticking up at the front/south and on the west. These will be filled with concrete to provide a footing for the front porch and screen/sun porch roofs.
On the right side you can see the cantilever bump-out that is part of the eating area, and then the master bedroom wing in the background. In general, you can start to see where windows or doors will be located.

Peeking into the basement through the walk-out door

 Some plumbing has been roughed in under the basement slab so that a future bathroom can be built on the lowest level. (white pipes sticking up on the right). The opening in the floor shows where the stair will connecting the levels.

North Side Elevation

 This is the back of the house. On the left is the master bedroom wing, which also is where the garage will connect into the mud room. On the right is the high spaces for the office and living room with the stair in between.

South Elevation (front)

Footing forms await concrete delivery for garage

The 24' x 36' garage is tucked behind the house. They will start building that next and then build a connection between the roofs for a dry walk from house to car.

Coming up: Second Floor framing and Roof!

Program Analysis for the NHND to the Pond

After (but really during - that's the thing- architects are thinking about everything all at once) analyzing the building site, (see post about Site Analysis HERE.) I analyze the building program. The "program" is the architect term for all the spaces that are needed/wanted and in the analysis we think about how they relate to each other, the size or proportion of each space, and where on the site (solar orientation,view, privacy) is the most desirable. (for example, the kitchen wants to be near the eating area and also convenient for carrying in groceries, and perhaps wants to be open to the living space, and sunny in the morning and throughout the day.) The program for just about anybody's house can be similar, of course, but a custom-designed house can be more responsive to the wants and needs of the folks who will live there and to the specific site the building is on.

These clients liked the idea that this house would have almost all the spaces be on the main level, with only the kid's spaces being upstairs, and a (future) recreation/guest room facing the pond in the basement level where the hill drops away. A very large garage was included to store two cars and the myriad of outdoor recreation equipment the family owns. With all this ground-floor space, this was starting to look like a really big footprint on the site! Aside: When I asked them to show me photos of architectural styles they liked, a two-story farmhouse "box" was among their picks, but I had to explain that that was not at all the massing we were ending up with because of the master bedroom, office, etc all being on the main level. They also showed me lots of bungalows, capes, and craftsmen styles, and stylistically that's what we strove toward with our design, as those building shapes tend toward prominent roofs with minimal upper floor spaces being located within the roof/attic. That is another aspect of pre-design: looking at precedents- a picture really does tell a thousand words, so I always ask clients to show me photos of things they like and explain what they like about them.

One of the precedents my clients showed me- by Locati Architects in Montana

You can see photos of the above "modern bungalow" at another blog by clicking below:
http://hookedonhouses.net/2015/03/16/a-new-bungalow-built-to-blend-into-an-old-neighborhood/

One of the best ways to "be green" when designing a building is to keep the building as small as you can. Early on, my clients decided they didn't need a formal dining room and that one eating area and one living/family area was all they needed- and this helped a lot. They wanted an open and informal kitchen/living/eating space and liked the idea of incorporating a built-in bench for the eating area. Built-ins are great space savers! (think of a Tiny House on wheels and how everything is built-in) A built-in bench seat can be right against the wall/window, whereas with chairs around a table, you need 2.5 feet minimum behind each chair to slide it back or walk around, ending up with a much larger required space. I proposed a few more built-ins (storage cubbies and a bench in the mud room entry from the garage, a window seat & shelves to display art and store books in the master bedroom, book shelves on the stair landing) and all these features added to the functionality of the space and allowed each of those rooms to be a bit smaller, while also adding interest and detail. (but I'm getting ahead of myself again)

In placing the spaces in relation to each other and on the site, I ended up with something like the diagram above. I wanted  the kitchen to be the front/south - open to other spaces -including an outside space- and filled with light. I wanted the garage hidden but with a direct connection to a mudroom entry. I wanted a sunny southern porch and a western facing sun/screen porch toward the pond. I wanted the master bedroom to be away and private and not have any second floor over it, so I could vault it's ceiling and give it a feeling of expansiveness despite it's not-huge size. I wanted to office to be able to be closed off for privacy, but to also be able to be open to the living spaces with wide pocket doors to share space when they want/need extra space. I wanted the stair to be a beautiful piece of woodwork that is visible from the living area. I wanted diagonal views from kitchen, through living toward big windows facing the pond and long views from the master suite toward the public areas of the house. Of course, I wanted them to have lots of storage space, but also lots of windows and an friendly, uncomplicated feeling about the place.

These bubble diagrams become squared-off spaces with walls, doors, windows, ceilings, materials... you start to figure out how a roof might be shaped to cover it all... and the house design goes on from there, getting more and more refined, stretched, re-organized, detailed, etc. - that's the design process!

From Tractor Garage to Office- Part 2

New Office / Pool House

See From Tractor Garage to Office- Part 1 for first blog post about this project.

I stopped by this project recently and my client has begun to get settled into his new office space. What was an unfinished space housing an oil tank and tractor and sporting a dirt floor, is now an up-scale office space for publishing with climate control, new windows, radiant floors, A/C and beautiful lighting & floor finishes.

New Office Space (same window locations as b4)

Before - Tractor Garage (note windows)

(Foggy Pic of) New Office / Pool House

Garage -before

I mentioned that when doing a separate, small structure people may be more willing to take risks and select some colors and finishes that they might not be bold enough to try out in the main house. This office/ guest house/ pool house may be an example of that. With fun colors and floor patterns, it is fresh and unique.

Inside the space - looking from office toward mechanical closet and bathroom

Bead Board Ceiling in Bathroom

From Tractor Garage to Office

Working on a discrete, separate out-building often makes for a fun project.

The costs can be lower, because of the smaller size. There are no strict rules to be followed to match the rest of the existing house or any particular style, necessarily. Clients often feel they can take more chances/risks and sometimes choose to do some funky or trendy finishes, that they might not be bold enough to do in their house.

This project is an old tractor storage barn. It is attached to another barn-type space that is near a pool, and has been renovated into a rough bathroom/changing room/pool house.

Tractor Garage  - Before

Pool House - Before

The bones of the building will remain as is: the foundation, the exterior walls and roof, the wood siding. New energy-star windows and doors have been installed to take the place of the existing over-head door. The walls and roof are insulated with spray foam. The dirt floor of the tractor garage now has rigid insulation and radiant heat tubes laid into a new concrete floor. What was a gravel floored, un-heated garage will become a new home office.


The pool house is being renovated with a new layout boasting beautiful new bathroom and laundry room inside and some sprucing up on the outside porch space. All new flooring, bead board walls, and paint- plus removing that indoor/outdoor plastic carpet- will go a long way to cleaning up this part of the building.

The whole structure will benefit from all new electrical wiring and plumbing and heating/air-conditioning. We have moved the pool mechanicals out of the building to ensure the office is a quiet place to work. We have kept the ceiling high in the new office and installed large windows facing toward the pastoral views. We have connected the office to the new bathroom so it can also function as a guest house.

Here are some photos of the work in progress: