oldhomestyle@wtdesigns.biz
Seamless Additions
Seahurst Tudor Addition
One of the owners of this authentic Tudor shingle home was the planning director of a nearby city. Will felt especially good the day he received the call for a site visit, because the planner knew the industry, and could have contacted any of the hundreds of designers or architects within 30 miles. But the planning director selected him.
At the site visit the owner clarified the choice, saying, "You seem to excel at seamless additions, and that's what we want. We love this old Tudor home. The addition must look like it was always there." Will smiled, and said quietly, "Yes, I can do that."
BEFORE
With very rare exception, a fundamental goal of every addition is for the new work to match the existing home. That's how Will sees it. So in every addition project some degree of Seamless Design is apparent. This Seamless Additions Section presents a few projects where the Seamless Design criteria was the primary focus.
For this pre-war Tudor shingle home, many viewers don't see what changed, at first. Then the third roof peak is noticed - which is above the new, extended portion of the home. Or they count the windows, or notice how the small Rhodie seems to have moved. But, the shrub was not moved, the house got bigger. Inside the front corner of the addition is a breakfast table space, with a classic Tudor triple window array in each corner wall. Behind the new group of four windows is the space added to the kitchen. At the back of the addition is a new office space - a personal owner request, because they loved to work with frequent fresh cups of strong, rich coffee. In the upstairs portion of the addition is a new larger bedroom and bath renovation. The windows up there are examples of genuine reused lead-glass, pre-war era glazing.
Craftsman Partial Second Story Addition
The owners wanted an owner suite, but did not want a tall two-story house. And there was no available expansion space around the small-lot site. AND - the new work could NOT look like an addition. The Seamless Design criteria must be met. The desired partial second story space was achieved by increasing the slope of the front portion of the existing main roof, and framing it with a beam and rafters method, to provide necessary headroom within a vaulted ceiling. And the resulting 5 foot knee walls enabled easy to access attic storage. The existing front of the home remains, except for the new roof, and the new balcony with French Doors. Which occurs at the new upper stair landing. And the back wall of the addition was against the existing somewhat usable attic, which offered space for a nice bathroom and walk-in closet. See the photo below.
Owner Suite Interior
This photo was taken by standing against the head-of-bed wall looking across the full width of the home. The stair landing and French Doors at new balcony is to the right. The two doors at the left are for the bath and closet. The windows at the opposite roof side dormer is where a desk and sitting area is planned. Note: That white panel radiator is from a solar heating system. The owners chose the paint scheme, a Salmon, moss green and antique white combination, which residential designer Will sees as a terrific old home style choice.
BEFORE
Here is the photo of the genuine 1920s single-story Craftsman Style home, not far from the University District in old Seattle. It presents wonderful knee brace and gable end detail, inset front porch and original wood pane Craftsman era windows.
Second Story & Garage Additions
This great old pre-war, narrow Cedar siding home, with half-hip roof, offered some usable attic space, but the owner wanted more. And there was no garage. But as the owner said, "The additions can NOT look different!" The Seamless Additons Design criteria was again a basic design element. And do you see that little cupola at the top of the roof? It was another special request, for the owners to view the entire neighborhood and its lake, just one house away.
And to offer a more simple roof framing system, the decision was made for a standard gable end, to leave the more complex framed half-hip feature behind - saved some construction money. Upstairs now are bedrooms and baths. And the entry was moved from the back side of the home to where the parking space is located, and under the new covered porch, which also leads to the new large recreation room over the new two-car garage addition. All client criteria items were met. And the value of the property nearly doubled.