The existing home was a late 1700's / early 1800's Chester County farmhouse which had a 1940's addition. The most convenient entrance to the home was directly into the kitchen, off a small courtyard with a smokehouse at one side. The site was very steep and tight, the existing building and smokehouse restricting construction access. To view some pictures...click here.

The goal:
The clients wanted to create a mudroom and better entrance, more storage space, a powder room, and open up the dark kitchen to a pleasant sitting area. The addition was to be in the style of the earlier building with similar trim, moldings, doors, and materials. It should look as though it was always there, and not a new, tacked on room. The existing building was in some need of some repair, and this seemed like a good opportunity to combine both tasks.

The challenge:
The site was very tight, and the area for the new building was almost inaccessible. The entry would have to remain in the same location, and the building services would have to be extended to the addition. The site was also very steep, and the land needed to be recontoured with retaining walls so the site drainage would work. As we opened up the kitchen wall, we found the 1940's structural framing curious and inadequate.

The solution:
The roofs of the addition were designed so that the lower section could be carried across to intersect with the standing seam metal porch roof of the original building, tying the two together. The kitchen wall was opened up and structurally reinforced so the space flowed into the new area and more light was introduced into the kitchen. Old doors and artifacts collected by the client were incorporated in the new room, and custom designed and built cabinetry, doors, and moldings were made and installed by Kling Custom Woodworking to match existing materials and designs. Incorporating the smokehouse in the addition was considered, but it would have destroyed its historical significance. Instead, it was kept intact and incorporated in the patio, stone stair and retaining walls to the side of the addition.