A House in the Woods

Dorie called us up looking to make some exterior changes to her house and wondered if we would simply come out to look at her house on a consulting basis. Dorie and her husband had purchased the home for its woodsy location, private art studio, and open floor plan but didn’t care for its severe appearance. They wanted the first impression of the house to be more welcoming - to feel more charming and inviting. 

Windows are like Eyes

For the first ten or fifteen mintes of the consultation we stood at the base of their driveway and discussed possible solutions. My overall impression was that the main house lacked unity and interest. Take a look at the two windows on the third level in the photo. They’re set too far apart and leave a wide expanse of clapboards between them. They are also “fixed”, meaning they cannot be opened from inside, and they are clipped at the corners. Not good. By changing those windows to casement windows that can be opened and moving them closer together, the inside will benefit from increased ventilation and the exterior will have a more balanced composition. To add more visual interest and help unify the wide space between the windows, I also suggested a wide band of trim just above the second level door and window and vertical board and batten siding above that trim. This adds visual interest and helps break up the monotony of the clapboards.

Posts like Toothpicks

Now lets take a look at the deck. It looks as though it is being held up by toothpicks stuck into the ground. Those posts are actually 3 1/2” square and are fine from a structural point of view. The deck is not going to fall down but it looks like those post are going to snap! A good rule of thumb when determining the “visual size” of the post is to take what is structurally necessary and multiply it by 2. I suggested making the posts about 8” wide and I also suggested a stronger visual base for the post to rest on - perhaps a stone patio and flower garden terrace that would have a nice stone wall in front of it with steps built into it. By doing this it would not only look much better from the front but it would also greatly enhance their outdoor living area on the ground level.

Charming Up the Garage

The garage has an artist studio above it. The two small skylights you see are not only unattractive from the exterior but the light they allow into the studio is difficult to control. I suggested adding two shed dormers centered over the garage doors. This would not only improve the exterior balance and add a more charming and inviting feel to the front of the house, it would also add space, improve the layout, and provide a nicer quality of light to the studio. Adding window boxes below the windows would offer an even more inviting experience driving up the driveway and entering the garage after a busy workday. Ahhh... I’m home. 

New Doors for Old

Speaking of entering the garage, I also suggested changing out the tired old seventies garage doors for two very nice overhead wood panel doors with arched top windows that have the feel of Carriage type doors - the kind you might find on older barns. More and more manufacturers are offering very good looking garage doors that provide better insulation, last longer, and are not that expensive. When you consider how prominent the garage door is in this elevation you can imagine that the improvement would be great relative to the cost of the doors.

Phase 1 Complete

The first phase of renovation was completed in the Summer of 2003. The contractor, Maine Coast Construction, added the band of trim, installed new casement windows, added the forward clapboard peak, and re-sided with board and batten siding. Already the elevation is remarkably improved. And the owners report that the increased ventilation has made the upstairs a much more pleasant place to be. The owners can hardly wait for the next phase.