It began with a vision for a partial remodel of the home’s 1st floor and a patio and landscape addition at the rear to create a series of beautiful and more open spaces that better reflected the homeowners’ lifestyle. However, as a historic home in a Landmark district, there is a careful balance that needs to be maintained with all design choices. As a historic home, there is already a pre-established language of materiality, proportions in terms of massing and spaces, and a cadence of windows and other details that give this home its own character. The tendency is to integrate into this language as unobtrusively as possible. However, as part of a Landmark Preservation Historic District, there is an added challenge to adhere to the philosophy that anything new at the exterior should be visibly distinguished from the original, so that later enthusiasts will be able to discern the layers of history.

To meet the homeowners’ vision and compliment the home’s historic character, all while governed by Landmark’s directive, led us to create an open kitchen that spills out into both the living room and private rear yard with careful design choices. At the interior, a central arcade and wet bar become a focal piece that transition from the entry, living room and more private guest suite into the kitchen. As a historic home, the wet bar became visually pivotal to integrating the transitional finishes of the open kitchen to the more historic choices of the original home. The kitchen itself has hallmarks of modern living, such as an expansive island, contemporary lighting, and the clean lines of open shelving and a refined hood. However, the homeowners’ took great care to choose timeless materials for their cabinetry and counters with a bright but neutral color palette that help blend its aesthetic with the rest of the home.

At the exterior, large bifold doors open the new kitchen’s west wall to a series of terraced patios. As a Landmark home, the design of the bifold doors, awning, and patio treatment needed to both harmonize with the existing house as well as stand out as being from a separate era. Bifold doors, already a departure from the home’s original construction, were finished with the unique brick trim found throughout the house. The awning introduces a new pitch profile and materiality, but is careful to be visually subordinate to the original roof. And the series of patios, while increasing the ratio of hardscape in the rear yard, are mitigated with their terraced design, brick trim, and the profuse landscaping that surround them. They vary in size, making them equally perfect for a couple’s sunrise coffee or watching the game around a fire with friends, well complimenting the beautiful new kitchen.

Special thanks to Barry Richardson from Evoke Builders and photographer Nate Strauch.