A farmhouse waiting to be opened up

Our client purchased her home for herself and her daughter. Unfortunately the previous owners had added onto the original part of the home adding smaller rooms connecting together over many years creating lots separate rooms and no sense of unity. To counter this boxed in result, the owner sought like many do, to take down walls and open up the downstairs into more livable space flowing between the kitchen, dining, and living areas.

To begin, we sat around the kitchen together table preparing early sketches and then developed an overall architectural design which included developing her space program, developing a three-dimensional design and drawings with floor plans, building sections, and exterior views and flat-on elevations. We created a future possible phase which included a deck extending the dining room out connecting better to the outdoors, a possible great room addition along with new more updated siding materials.

Located on the southeast corner, the addition would someday extend the living and entertaining spaces tying together the kitchen and living areas allowing for a circular flow. High shed cathedral ceilings with simple roof framing would provide an inspiring space framing views of nearby mountain ranges. The addition will eventually be built to high performing standards with high R-value dense pack cellulose walls, and roofs with an insulated frost-protected concrete slab. Exterior materials would be a mix of cement board panel with reveals together with galvanized corrugated metal siding. For further energy use reductions and additional comfort, future plans also call for installing on the exterior added rigid "outsulation", new siding over a draingage plane, with window extensions, and wood trim.

From the plans we provided, the builder extensively renovated the main level by opening up non-load bearing walls improved flow between the entry, mudroom, kitchen, dining and living areas. The design-build contractor worked one on one with the homeowner to stay within her budget, prioritize weatherization improvements, reduce energy bills, reuse farm beams and posts to provide structural support in opened up spaces.

Their work also included new custom kitchen design of cabinets and counter-tops, lighting selection, distressed wood cabinet fronts, oil-rubbed finishes all working together to unify the renovated spaces. Plaster finished walls and new paint tie together all newly renovated living area spaces. The builder and homeowner also heavily renovated a leaky basement with a natural spring stream flowing through it. Improvements there included a new insulated concrete floor slab, extensive painted foam insulation against the existing rubble stone foundations, and new lighting.