Residence, Plymouth Meeting

The clients are moving from a Northeast row home into this post-war ranch, and with the children growing up wanted to create a new master wing, including a family room. The family room would provide a place for the adults and friend to socialize and take the pressure off the small original living room. Opening and renovating the old kitchen will improve the flow through the house and the new master suite upstairs give a full living area to the parents while leaving the original house spaces available for the older kids. 

 We are removing the original light-frame garage and infilled-breeze-way, and designing a new two story home. Since costs are always an issue, we are using a simple rectangular footprint. Here we are pulling it forward from the old house to help it seem like the old house is the addition. The new entry porch will also draw the eye away form the old house and to the new entry. We put a garage door on the front for a storage room, which, while it is not an ideal design element, is typical to modern homes and keeps the side wall for the social patio and balcony area. New siding on the original home will tie it to the new and eliminate the tired, worn look of the old brick and siding.  

Winterloch Farm - Circa 1728, Chester , PA

Winterloch Farm was built in 1728 by John Sharpless III, grandson of John Sharpless I who received a Penn Land Grant in 1682.   The original house was a two-storey native fieldstone "trinity" house. The stone shed-roofed kitchen with a sleeping loft was added shortly after the original house was constructed; the original kitchen was in the basement.  

Our task was to make the sleeping loft a real bedroom, re-side and replace windows to give the 1953 mudroom/laundry a more appropriate character, and allow for a roof-deck of the new bedroom. The challenge was to do it in a way that retained the original building, was sympathetic to the old house character and allowed for modern living. By adding a frame addition to the sloped stone walls, we recognized the old structure while using compatible materials, details and colors in a new way. The addition is very low key and the roof lines reflect the cascading gables of the original buildings.

Residence

Penns Valley , PA

This project began with the previous owners, and involved renovating and adding to the entrance hall to make a better and bigger entry, a more welcoming and noticeable front entryway, and to open and renovate the dining room. When the Manning-Drapers bought it, they liked the design enough to go ahead with it.

The home is a nice example of a 60's split level, done with much more architectural thought than is typical with splits. My idea was to look at the roots of the design, various off-shoots of modernism, and I chose to enhance the craftsman, bungalow side rather than straight modernism. It helped that both client/owners have a strong preference for mission/craftsman, as well.