Featured in Not So Big Remodeling: Tailoring Your Home for the Way You Really Live
When these clients moved down from D.C, they found a 1966 deck house that had good form and a lot of potential, although it needed to be pulled out of the sixties first. The home had great views of a nearby lake through floor to ceiling windows but it was paneled entirely in darkly stained cypress and the old floor, which was reclaimed heart pine when the house was first built, was stained dark brown.
The family wanted to renovate the house but they wanted to do in the most sustainable way possible. With clean lines and great views, the house provided the family with an open main floor that included a master bedroom suite and office space while the three girls had rooms downstairs with a common family room, laundry, exercise room and mechanical room. The main floor had plenty of space but it was broken up and badly organized. A breakfast area and mudroom were needed but the flat roof made it complicated and expensive to build an addition. The challenge was to reallocate spaces to work for the family's lifestyle and stay in the original footprint.
An existing greenhouse blocked the screen porch and thus the view. Reworking the greenhouse as a screen porch allowed a new breakfast room to take the place of the old screen porch. A small amount of space was taken from the carport and converted into a mudroom. The mudroom creates a place to leave bags and shoes before entering the house, reducing dirt and allergens in the house.
Many "green" elements were included in the renovation. All of the cedar paneling was carefully removed for reuse. The walls were covered in sheetrock and kept white to reflect as much light around the space as possible. All paint was low VOC. The spaces on the main floor were opened up, to help the main floor seem light and bright.
The stained reclaimed heart pine floors were stripped and refinished with a water-based polyurethane, enhancing the character and color of the floor, bringing it back to life while also lightening the living space. All of the single-paned windows were changed out for double-paned, insulated low E windows and operable units were strategically placed to allow for maximum natural ventilation while not distracting from the view. Energy Star ceiling fans were also installed to minimize the need for air conditioning.
HEPA filters and an outside air intake cleans and tempers the fresh air. Spray foam insulation was used throughout the house. Open cell spray foam insulation was used on the main floor while on the lower floor, which has concrete block walls and is earth bermed on two sides, the walls were furred out and filled with closed cell spray foam. This provides significant insulation in a small amount of space.
The kitchen, mudroom and living room have all FSC certified cabinets with Alkemi counters (a countertop material made from scrap metal). Appliances and lighting are Energy Star and all plumbing fixtures are low flow. Downstairs, recycled carpeting is in the bedrooms and playroom while reused carpet from the original house was used in the laundry and exercise rooms. Marmoleum was used in the bathrooms.
The result is a transformed home that is open, light and comfortably houses a busy family of five. The quality finishes are beautiful and provide a healthy indoor air quality making the home safe for growing children and a delightful space for living and entertaining.