Our clients approached us with a desire to renovate a very old farmhouse-early 18th century. We like renovations, but this house was exhausted. The builder and I pointed out to the clients that even if they had no budget constraints (which we knew not to be the case) by the time we finished the renovation there would be almost no original material in the house, because it was too far gone, and the existing plan, while working well on this saltwater farm site, didn’t accommodate our clients needs.
What we ended up doing was trying to capture the scale, coloring, and site relationships of the original building that our clients had been attracted to. We also saved pieces, like ships knees that had been in the original post and beam structure and window sash from the original entry that we incorporated into a china cabinet.
But most importantly we wanted to capture the feeling of the old house, which was aggressively simple in its detailing and tone.
The builder told me that he was describing this project to a local fellow, and when he said, “We tore down the red farmhouse and built a new building” the reply was “No you didn’t, the old place is still there.”
Seems like we got a lot of it.
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The existing early 18th century northwest facade--which is the one seen by the public
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The northwest elevation of the new house.
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The new house as seen from the southeast --the kitchen door end where everybody really enters
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The entry hall and stairs. We copied the used the original newel post design and used the original balusters and rails for this very simple stair and railing
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Looking northeasterly towards the living room with "bonus room" balcony above it.
