A Renewed 1920’s Bungalow

Project Overview:
The homeowners were expecting their first child. They wanted to remain in their neighborhood to be close to family. However, they needed more space, and quickly. Their bungalow home was built in the 1920s and was very small. The entire living space was on one floor and held two small bedrooms, a small dining room and living room, a small galley kitchen and a small bath. The attic space above was unconditioned and used only for storage. Their lot size was deep, but narrow. With a child on the way, they didn’t want to use up a lot of the rear yard space, so the best solution was to better utilize their existing first floor space for living area, add a rear addition to the first floor with a new kitchen and then add a second story for the bedrooms across the entire existing and new first floor space.

Unusual Constraints or Challenges:
A project of this magnitude is always filled with constraints and challenges, but nothing that we couldn’t overcome. For example, the homeowner wanted to keep as much of the existing wall plaster as possible to maintain the feel of the 1920s bungalow. So, we “sistered” the new floor joists to the former structure to preserve as many of the old walls as possible. Another construction challenge was to keep the front of the existing roof system in tact while adding a new roof to the back of the home. This way, the front elevation of the home preserved the charm of the 1920s bungalow exterior while the interior of the home gives way to a modern fully functional floor plan. We installed a new ridge beam to support the old roof on the front and attached the new roof line to it.

Creative Solutions:
We suggested several creative, yet practical, design solutions that the clients did not expect. For example, we suggested that they add a mud room entrance to the new part of the home, connected to the yard. We knew that when their child was old enough to play outside, that an entrance that could withstand muddy boots would come in handy. Another example is our suggestion to move the laundry area to the new bedroom level from the basement. They didn’t realize it, but their laundry chores were about to double and having a laundry room closet conveniently located on the bedroom level would make that job more palatable.

Overall Results of the Project:
The overall results to the project are that this “new” home functions extremely well for this new family of three. The home is not only functional, but beautiful. We took special care to make sure the house felt bright and inviting. And the improved circulation by adding the new hallway to the kitchen and changing the location of the stairs to the second floor make navigating the new space all the better.

The Before Front Elevation.

The Before Rear Elevation.

The Before Living Room: The former dining room entrance is to the left.

Before Dining Room. The before view into the dining room and the narrow door into the former kitchen. The rear window becomes a pass through.

Before Kitchen: The former kitchen was narrow and lacked appropriate storage.

Before Attic: The former attic was used as storage and was unconditioned space.