Historic homes have a lot of character. They are often made of beautiful materials that are unavailable or very expensive to use in today's construction. They tend to have large windows and many windows in each room. Fireplaces. Wainscotting. Thick moldings and trim details inside and out. Interesting shapes and "correct" feeling forms. They are filled with stories.
But, they can also sometimes have small, disconnected or disfunctional kitchens or few or no closets. (Or have their wood siding removed or covered with vinyl or aluminum!) And sometimes aging in place can be diffiuclt with only second floor bathrooms/bedrooms and laundry in the basement.
I often get hired by folks who love their old home including all it's quirks and smallness, but they may long for some modern amenity - like at shower! or a more up-to-date kitchen! Or they want to plan for their ability to remain there as they age. Together we both want the new spaces to mesh with the old and to feel comfortable together. This Germantown home was already large enough for the couple who lives there, but they knew they needed a proper main floor laundry room and the ability to move to single floor living someday if that became necessary.
The front porch and entry door are almost at street level, so it already had an accessible "no step" entry there. I came up with a roof shape for the addition that allows for a "negative space" covered porch and for both existing back second floor bedroom windows to remain.
Inside, there is a spacious entry off the driveway with a built in bench and large storage cabinetry, a pocket door to a bathroom, and a large laundry room. Spaces have vaulted ceilings, classic looking windows, and modern heat pump mechanical systems. What was a back window in the Living Room became the passageway connecting the new space to the existing. The other back window became inset shelves. It was decided early on that if the need for a first floor bedroom arises, they will use part of the Living Room rather than building a larger addition that included a bedroom. This petite back-of-the-house additon looks appropriate to the historic home.
The clients worked dirctly with the contractors for custom trim and cabinetry and chose a cable railing for better visiblity of their extensive gardens while sitting on their new back porch. They took the opportunity to remove vinyl siding and restore the exterior siding and have the wood painted a traditional color. This project was very personal to them and they are thrilled with the end result. I always strive for happy clients, but even more improtant is that when we add on to a well- preserved historic building, our design harmonizes with the early 19th century Palatine architecture.
Tidbit of historical info from the book "Becoming German" by Philip L. Otterness: The so-called Palatine migration of 1709 began in the western part of the Holy Roman Empire, where perhaps as many as thirty thousand people left their homes, lured by rumors that Britain's Queen Anne would give them free passage overseas and land in America. They journeyed down the Rhine and eventually made their way to London, where they settled in refugee camps. The rumors of free passage and land proved false, but, in an attempt to clear the camps, the British government finally agreed to send about three thousand of the immigrants to New York in exchange for several years of labor. After their arrival, the Palatines refused to work as indentured servants and eventually settled in autonomous German communities near the Iroquois of central New York. The Palatines cannot be viewed as a cohesive "German" group until after their arrival in America; indeed, they came from dozens of distinct principalities in the Holy Roman Empire. It was only in refusing to assimilate to British colonial culture—instead maintaining separate German-speaking communities and mixing on friendly terms with Native American neighbors—that the Palatines became German in America.
