TEA2 Architects - Historic Farmhouse

Contractor: Alexandra Fine Homes
Photography: Alexandra Fine Homes

The client and our design team had a goal to create a design that respects the original home and neighbors. At the same time the design had to create a living environment conducive to the lifestyle of a modern family. The final design was also required to pass a historic review process for the neighborhood.
The existing façade was broadened by a new, architecturally correct front porch. The new addition features a narrower second floor with small, narrow, steeply-pitched gables. We took the proportions and roof forms of the existing home and developed the new addition within them.
The interior layout is surprisingly expansive and light-filled. Warm, somewhat rustic materials soften the modern interiors to complement the existing farmhouse aesthetic.
The design has been worked hard to avoid any new construction to rival or subsume the front existing structure. We placed the garage way back on the site so that it is hardly noticeable from the street (the house is on a hill and the south terrace edge and bosque of trees screen it). Just as important, the new portion of the house is well concealed by the cross-gable form of the existing structure sitting in front of it. We have basically left three sides of the existing structure intact.