Renovated House

Freehold, New Jersey

2019

This is a design for the renovation of a typical suburban bi-level house.  The aesthetic goal of the design is to create a classical and symmetrical farm house. To that end, the entrance is dropped down to the ground level and its existing arched window is re-installed over a new and classic door and sidelights. An extension is added to the right-hand side of the main portion of the house, re-centering the entrance on the facade. Traditional siding, casings and moldings are introduced throughout the facade. A front porch is added to give significance to the entrance and to provide a place for social interaction with neighbors A cupola dresses-up the facade while collecting the necessary flues in one location, preventing the roof from having many haphazard penetrations. As much of the original facade is maintained as possible, including most windows and their locations.

The remainder of the work includes a complete gut renovation of most interior spaces and the addition of L-shaped wings on the sides of the main portion of the house, creating a well-defined courtyard in the rear of the house.  A new fire pit is located in the center of the courtyard and an existing in-ground pool is located on the side opposite the main portion of the house. The programmatic goal of the project is to expand the existing house to accommodate the client’s needs for entertaining while staying within the allowable floor area ratio established by local regulations. The new wings include a great room, family room, indoor/outdoor lanai and a three car garage.