Arts and Crafts whole-house remodel and expansion

Winner of the 2009 Frederick County Builders Association "Award of Excellence" in the category of "Remodeling: Best Addition, $500K - $750K"

This project was built on speculation by one of my regular contractor clients who saw an opportunity to purchase a small older home in a neighborhood that's being renovated on a massive scale. There were several other homes within a block or two which had been of this size and age, but had been transformed into modern homes of moderate size, with all the amenities people look for today, designed in the "Arts and Crafts" style. The builder provided me with measurements and photos of the existing home, along with photos of neighboring renovated homes, so that I could get an idea of what sort of design might fit in with the streetscape. Then he set me free to be as creative with the layout and the exterior as I could be, with a list of "hot button" rooms and features he wanted. The original home is pictured below:

As you can see it's very small, only one story with a walk-up attic. The structure was sound, however, and the lot, though of modest size, was large enough that we had space to add a 14' projecting addition to the right side of the home, along with a 14' deep addition to the rear of the home. The existing roof was completely removed for a second story, and the first floor was basically gutted for our new layout. The newly enlarged first floor features a large eat-in kitchen, a great room with space for dining, a living room, a rec room, a covered porch, and even a home office. There's a lot of living packed into this formerly small home! I designed a second story with a full master suite and three secondary bedrooms which share two bathrooms. A finished walk-up attic features two large dormers and windows on the gable ends. The narrow lot only allowed for a one-car basement level garage, but it's still an improvement over what was originally there for parking, and is typical for the neighborhood.

We didn't have the opportunity to take pictures of all four elevations before the home was sold, but I've adapted my drawings here to show you all four sides:

The contractor received lots of positive feedback on the design from the neighbors as he renovated this property, and it quickly sold, even in the economic downturn, much to his relief!