This home represents what is probably the seventh major remodeling/addition to what started out as a two-room cottage built in 1835. The roots of the historical house are still visible and incorporated in the expansions over the years. We opened up a warren of small rooms on the first floor and enlarged the second floor while completely refurbishing the interior. Room for a formal dining room was found by infilling an interior courtyard with a one story addition. Because this blocked the windows on some adjacent rooms we were able to recover some light by using a large pyramidal skylight over most of the dining area. The white skylight frames are concealed on the exterior by a chinese chippendale railing. The interior effect is magical for dining, especially on a moonlit night.
In restoring this house we dealt with many different levels from previous incarnations - removing some floor levels entirely while trying to utilize others to our advantage spatially. The house is constrained by a narrow lot in an historical village, but is able to share vista and breathing room with an adjacent village commons that once served as a polo field.
|
