A childhood home,
renewed for the years ahead

The home they returned to

Character worth keeping.
Problems that needed attention.

The stepped ceiling detail and original front door still gave the living room its identity. Yet worn finishes and an enclosed kitchen made the interior feel disconnected. The renovation needed to improve how the rooms worked together while respecting their scale.

Reconstructing the den

A former porch becomes a proper part of the home

The den’s problems began with the way the space had originally been built. It had been a porch, with flagstone laid without a concrete slab underneath. Its roof sat lower than the adjoining rooms and sloped across the space. Years later, a severe leak brought down the ceiling.

We removed the flagstone and poured a new concrete floor and footings for the exterior walls. The work also included rebuilding two water-damaged exterior walls and removing the roof section. New roof framing allowed us to raise the ceiling to a height similar to the adjoining dining room and route air-conditioning ducts into the den.

The connection between the rooms deserved the same attention. We removed the trim around the dining room opening and plastered the double-brick opening to resemble the home’s other interior doorways. The finished room now relates to the surrounding architecture, with the structure and conditioned air it needed beneath and above the visible finishes.

The floor difference hidden by the wall

Opening the kitchen to the living room revealed a construction detail that had been easy to miss: the kitchen floor was higher. We overlaid the lower living room floor with plywood before installing the new flooring, resolving the difference where the spaces now connected.

Elsewhere, the home required a different repair. Original oak flooring on the west side sat over a crawl space. On the east side, parquet covered concrete, except in the dining room, where a basement meant the floor was wood-framed. Structural damage in that dining room floor required repair before the finish work could proceed.

Comfort throughout the home

A new HVAC plan after a revealing discovery

Our original plan was to replace the existing air-conditioning unit in the basement. Once we removed it, we found that it relied on the home’s original under-floor ducting. Those ducts were neither airtight nor efficient enough for the new system.

Replacing equipment alone would have left that distribution problem in place. Instead, we moved to a roof-mounted unit and installed new ductwork in the attic. Adjustments to soffits and ceiling cavities allowed us to bring conditioned air to rooms that needed it while keeping the new runs integrated with the interior.

The music room made the improvement especially tangible. An earlier addition, it had depended on a window AC unit. We extended supply from the attic into that room, bringing it onto the home’s central system. The reconstructed den also received new supply ductwork through its new roof framing.

Electrical service and deteriorated plumbing required attention as well. The renovation included a new electrical panel and replacement drain and supply lines serving the kitchen, bathrooms, and indoor laundry.

Living here for the long term

An accessible primary suite with the home’s character intact

The homeowners wanted the primary suite to support their needs over time. We closed the bathroom’s hall entrance and reorganized access from the bedroom through the closet, using arched openings that suit the historic interior.

Relocating the shower created room for a curbless entry. We also enlarged the water closet and changed its access, installed a double vanity, and added task lighting. These layout decisions made accessibility part of the room’s design from the beginning.

Making the rest of the property useful again

The project extended beyond the main living spaces. Indoor laundry improved daily convenience. French doors linked the music room to the backyard, and the detached garage regained its purpose as a two-car garage after earlier alterations had compromised its usefulness.

Rebuilt garage-door framing, new doors and hardware, and renewed stucco addressed deterioration while bringing the outbuilding back into practical use. Together, these changes prepared the property for the homeowners’ move home.