Beginnings of the Project
In late 2021, a client hired us to plan and design a modern-inspired major renovation for the new home they recently bought. He needed a design to improve multi-generational livability and to add to a two-bedroom home in Central Vermont. That meant designing a new bedroom wing, an expanded kitchen, and other changes to enlarge the home enough to share with two other adult siblings and their families.
Existing south elevation
Existing southwest view
The Existing Situation
Sited on just over ten acres in a cleared meadow area, the 2,050 square foot home has a nearby detached two-car garage with a studio apartment over it. The home and its setting appealed to our client because of its striking southern-facing glass window wall, expansive porches, rustic contemporary appearance, and well-laid-out interior. A tile floor, expansive interior spaces, and a country-contemporary kitchen, all surrounded by a covered and open porch with striking views from within, sealed the deal. Still, with all the existing charm, the client and his extended family needed more living space.
Interior view looking towards the kitchen
Vegetable and flower gardens and hundreds of feet of long stone walls encircled the home site in a little hollow in the landscape. Facing south, the home and its large, uncovered porch offered a sunny respite. The original owners built the home with the foundation semi recessed in the land with the main level five feet aboveground. This allowed garden level windows to enliven the basement, now used as a full living and sleeping area for one sibling family group, complete with a bathroom and other amenities.
The Design Brief
The client wanted more family members to live with them and share in the beauty of Vermont. Since buying the property, he began thinking about how to do that. Eventually, he drew a rough sketch of the general layout of the bedroom addition and kitchen renovation and contacted us. He sought us out for our professional architectural planning and design services to illuminate and translate his ideas into reality.
The early client sketch also added a porch to the design scope on the side of the kitchen. It would balance the major elevation of the home by matching the other side. The change would also enhance overall home appeal and symmetry. The client often travels overseas to Europe, managing a global team of programmers, so whatever we designed for later construction also had to help support his ongoing full-time work from home activities.
The Addition
Now under construction this winter, our client wanted a two-story modern-inspired bedroom suite for them, leaving the existing generous main bedroom suite for other family members after the addition build finished. We designed the 522 SF addition from the inside out to maximize the client’s connection to nature. For example, we created a reading corner with tall vertical floor to ceiling windows accented by an upper transom window for daylighting. Facing east towards a small porch off the addition, we designed a window wall facing the forest with low awning windows with fixed ones above.
First floor plan (dark gray area is existing to remain, all else is new construction)
Downstairs in the addition basement, they needed another bedroom and a small living space for another family group to use. That way, the existing basement could become more open again for everyone to enjoy as an entertainment and games hub. Generous windows continued the modern inspired theme of the bedroom above. A sliding barn-door will separate the sleeping and small living area that leads to a terrace below the porch above. A path from the parking area between the detached garage and home will lead down. That will make it easy to come and go separately from the main house.
An earlier rendering of the upper level bedroom addition
Expanding the Kitchen
Because of the number of adults, the client asked we design a strategic kitchen expansion to make it easier to cook and prep food with the larger family size. This would also enhance its role as the hub of household social action. To do so meant pushing the kitchen wall out to the east four feet to expand the counter area and widen the space between it and the island.
With the nearby distinctive cherry wooden interior staying, the expanded kitchen had to match its finishes and appearance. We added two-wall ovens along with an induction cooktop nestled on the island. The large cooktop replaced the existing gas stove. In the expanded area, we added a microwave in its own tall cabinet.
A new, enlarged engineered stone counter will replace the existing one with an integral sizable sink bowl facing a large window looking out to the forest beyond. Along with these changes, the owner also asked we design the reuse of a few existing cherry cabinets with new matching faces to save money and resources.
Exterior Design
With the added on covered side porch now matching its sister on the other side of the house, plus the new black painted addition will act to gather all its parts and pieces together in a more unified and cohesive way. A matching gable roof along with black vertical board and batten siding and sleek windows with black exterior trim will help blend new into existing. A private porch serving the new bedroom with taut cable railings will add to the composition.
Southeast view showing proposed bedrooms, kitchen and porch additions.
The client also has plans to update the existing rustic porch railings on the main deck with similar modern cable railings. Doing so will further enhance modern farmhouse appearance to align with the other exterior changes.
The dark brown tones of the existing home, the darkness of the addition will also complement those of the recently painted detached garage next to the home. The owner and his family will lay more stone walls and planting areas tastefully around the fresh paths and steps leading to and from the addition to the drive parking area. Electricians will also install site lighting along the paths to ease the journey at night from the parking area.
When all is done, the additions and site improvements will complete the transformation into a rustic modern farmhouse deftly sited in its open meadow. The hope is that the result will appear as a unified whole while also serving the needs of this growing multi-generational family for years to come.
Energy-Efficient Enclosure and Systems
Together we carefully balanced long-term performance, durability, environmental factors, and cost in the final budget work. We designed the addition to a Pretty-Good-House level in collaboration with the owner and the builder. The addition has double stud R35 walls with dense pack insulation, a tried-and-true wall assembly. The fully vented gable roof will have an R60 level of blown in cellulose insulation atop a flat ceiling at the bottom of the trusses. R20+ slab on grade with an R15 concrete foundation wall with drainage and R10 slab edge insulation follow the walls and roof assemblies.
We selected good-performing double-insulated glazed windows and doors from the Marvin Signature series with repair and replacement work done on existing 20-year-old Marvin Elevate series windows by Windows and Doors by Brownell. The contractor will look to achieve between less than 1 to less than 2 air-change per hour air-sealing performance with all the construction joints, sealants, barriers, and connections. The owner will add 14 Kilowatts of active on site solar near the home and garage, with backup batteries on the property and an electric-vehicle charging station. A subcontractor will add air-to-air heat pumps for heating and cooling for the addition with upstairs ventilation supplied by a Panasonic Green Whisperlite fan and LED light in the new bathroom.
Environmentally preferable materials and finishes
We specified Forest Stewardship Council framing lumber and trim, or use of locally milled lumber and siding. The owner may replace during this project or later the existing deck approaching its end of life. Environmentally preferable composite decking will replace it. The builder will use low or no VOC paints and coatings for indoor air-quality, especially during a renovation with the owner and family members living on site. Reusing what is possible plays a role as well, with reusing three or four base and tall cabinets in the reorganized and enlarged kitchen. The replacement engineered stone countertop will have recycled content. It is all about balance with these choices.
Completion
The project finished in the spring of 2024. See a variety of completed photos showing exterior and interior views as well as overhead drone shots. All photos shown below are adapted from Preferred Properties of Vermont who graciously provided them. Recently, the client decided to sell their newly finished home due to job changes taking him back overseas and extended family health issues sending his other family members back out of state.
Completed project - Southwest view. Image courtesy of Preferred Properties
Aerial view of the new addition, added porch to balance the existing on the front with an expanded deck.
Overall view addition and major renovation area.
Northeast view of new bedroom wing. (Arocordis Design)
Renovated and expanded kitchen area with sliding door entry to new side porch.
View from renovated and expanded kitchen to living and dining area and porches beyond.
New main bedroom with view to the outdoors and new deck.
New modern inspired bathroom in the addition.
Want to learn more?
Curious about the details above, or planning a new modern inspired custom home design project or a major renovation or addition? Please reach out to us! Click on the contact us button to tell us more about your needs in our easy to fill out form. Or call us. Happy to talk to you! Or set up a video call.
Or want to learn about our project portfolio of existing projects either under design, completed, or our prototype houses. Click on the button below to look and see them. We hope you enjoy the examples we share there.
Arocordis Design, a custom home architect and planner, has served Vermont families since 2010. We provide licensed architectural services throughout Central Vermont, including Waterbury, Stowe, Montpelier, Calais and beyond. We also serve the Burke, St. Johnsbury, White River Junction, Tunbridge, and the Woodstock regions. We specialize in modern-inspired home design that connects to Vermont’s past while providing a creative climate positive vision for the future.