Last time we did a survey of the Greek Revival houses in my town of Medway, Mass. There are some great examples of the style in town, ranging from humble to high style. Now let's take a look at the potential pitfalls of altering the original siding and trim details.
It's pretty clear to me that the average home builder in the 18th and 19th centuries had a much better grasp of the basics of architectural styles than their modern day counterparts. Architectural styles had rules. Carpenters did not simply make things up as they went along. They used either pattern books or local examples to guide them as they built up cornices, columns, and other architectural elements. A quick look at some of Asher Benjamin's pattern books will reveal some of the rules used by the master carpenters to produce their millwork.
As a result these old places are still pleasing to the eye all these years later. The proportions are "right". On the new houses of today moldings of different styles are mixed and matched randomly. Windows are often out of scale with the facade; either too big or too small. You'd be hard pressed to find a carpenter who could tell you the difference between an architrave and a capital.
So let's look at what happens when ill-informed alterations are made to historic houses. First we'll look at a fairly intact Greek Revival here in town.
As we discussed in the last post, this house is based on the Greek temple form. The triangular gable (also called the pediment) is supported by the wide, horizontal band of trim (the architrave) which, in turn, is visually supported by the wide "columns" (which are represented by the wide cornerboards, called pilasters). The pilasters have capitals at the top, just as true columns do.
Visually it all makes sense. There is a logic to it. The wide pilasters look as if they can carry the weight of the architrave and pediment above. It's simple yet quite elegant.
So let's look at what happens when this sense of order and proportion is disrupted (with apologies in advance if I offend any of the homeowners).
Our first test case is the house below. A quick look will reveal two changes. First, the wide horizontal trim band (called the architrave, remember?) made up of several boards in the original has been replaced with a single board so that it is now much narrower. It feels less substantial and out of proportion with the pediment above. The second floor window trim no longer touches the trim boards above so the composition feels less unified.
Even more troubling is the fact that the pilasters have been replaced with simple cornerboards. Gone is the detail of the recessed panels on the pilasters. Gone are the capitals. And because the cornerboards are so narrow gone, too, is the sense of proportion. These narrow cornerboards seem incapable of supporting the visual weight of the pediment above- they look like they may crumple at any time- so the whole effect is much less pleasing to the eye (and it doesn't help that the shutters have been removed either). Still a nice looking house, but not as cohesive as our original example.
Our next example has been altered even more. First, the triangular pediment looks less substantial because the wide trim boards that once followed the slope of the roof were removed when the clapboards were replaced with shingles (take a look at the two houses above to see what I mean). Second, there are absolutely no pilasters or cornerboards. These, too, they were removed when the siding was replaced. There is nothing to visually support the pediment and roof. Next, of course, is the siding. I've seen few, if any, Greek Revivals that look better with shingles than the original clapboards. With no cornerboards, no shutters, and shingles instead of clapboards, this house looks a little naked compared to our original example.
Our next case displays the unfortunate result when a nice historic house is covered with vinyl siding and aluminum trim. The installers were intent on covering everything in sight. Look at how bad the horizontal architrave looks when treated with siding. It loses its decorative function, which is to visually support the roof. Fortunately, it looks like most of the trim is probably still under the vinyl and metal wrapping so this house could be more easily restored to its former glory than some of the other examples.
Our final example has been maintained and preserved to a larger extent than the three previous examples. In fact, apart from the porch addition, it would rival our original example. The porch (not original, but not bad) obscures the front door surround and also visually interrupts the pilasters, so that they no longer appear (at least from the street) to reach the foundation. All in all, though, this is a well preserved example.
This row of Greek Revivals illustrates why it's important to consider the intentions of the original builder and/or designer before undertaking renovations of historic house. If your house has been altered by a previous owner, don't despair. Study the houses in your neighborhood. Check the historic society for old photos of your house (we found a great 19th century photo of our place). There are a lot of great resources to help you figure out what your house may have looked like.
Not sure where to turn? Give us a call. We've been restoring and renovating historic houses in and around Massachusetts for over 20 years. We'd love to discuss your house.
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
One of the things that I appreciate about historic houses is the thought that the builders put into the ornamentation. They seemed to have an almost innate understanding of the use of proportion and, of course, a deeper understanding of the architectural orders than today's builders who either slap a bunch of decorative trim on their houses arbitrarily or, at the other end of the spectrum, have almost no ornamentation.
To iilustrate this, let's look at one particular style: the Greek Revival. For four decades (roughly 1820-1860) the Greek Revival style dominated both domestic and institutional architecture. In the north, the style was reflected by gable-fronted houses designed to recall the temple form of ancient Greece.
Here's the inspiration:
Local examples of thus style included the Boston Custom House, shown below before it became a much taller building. The style became popular for banks, government buildings, and on college campuses.
While there were high style Greek Revival houses, most of the domestic versions were much more modest. Here in New England after two centuries in which the gables faced sideways, by the 1820s thousands of houses were built with the gable facing the street in order that the temple-like design could be emphasized. The rest of the photos in this article feature Greek Revival houses from just one town: Medway, Mass.
As you can see, this is a simplified version of the temple form. It features a triangular pediment "resting" on a wide band called the entablature (comprised, if you're interested, of the frieze and the architrave) which, in a real temple, was where the beam that carried ceiling joists would have sat. The entablature, in turn, is visually supported by the columns which in this example are represented by the wide pilasters at the front corners.
It's likely that the local builders bought pattern books, such as those done by architect/builder Asher Benjamin. These books would have provided detailed drawings detailing how to build everything from the windows, shutters and pilasters on the outside, and doors, mantles, and stairs inside.
There are quite a few larger and grander examples of the style in Medway. For example the photo below shows one of a pair of identical homes on Main Street. Note its similarity to the original Greek temple form.
Here's an even more elaborate example that features a wealth of classic Greek ornamentation such as the wreath window and the fretwork on the cupola. Instead of free standing columns, we see large pilasters on each gable wall. Also note the flush board siding seen in the detail photos. This is a common feature on Greek Revivals.
Here are a few more examples here in Medway. First a large farmhouse, again showing pilasters instead of true columns on the main house and a wrap around porch. The second is a shot of my own Greek Revival, with a colonade on three sides of the house.
Greek Revival houses tend to be brighter inside than the Georgian and Federal houses that preceded them due to larger windows; note the triple-hung, floor to ceiling windows in the two photos above.
In the next article we'll take a look a row of 5-6 identical Greek Revivals in town and how changes to the siding and trim on some of them has really detracted from the original look and feel.
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
The selection of exterior paint colors for historic houses is, admittedly, a very subjective topic. Color schemes that please some people might give their neighbors nightmares. As subjective and personal issue as this topic is, however, it is clear to me that some color schemes enhance the look of an old house while others can make a house look either too bland or clownishly over the top.
Some basic knowledge is helpful. Until the Industrial Revolution, most paints were mixed in small batches using naturally found earth pigments. Paint colors, therefore, tended to reflect these pigments: red oxide, yellow ocher, lamp black, red and white lead, etc. Common exterior colors were reds, yellows, and greens. I think that the colors from Old Village Paints represent 18th and 19th century paint colors fairly well. White was most often reserved as a trim color in the 18th century. Around 1820 or so it became a more popular body color. Greek Revivals, in particular, were often painted white - or had white trim and a body color such as straw yellow or a gray or tan meant to suggest stone. It should be noted, however, that the "white" that was used back then was more of an off white, not the super whites available these days.
Even after paints started being mass produced in the second half of the 19th century, exterior colors still favored earth tones such as ochres, various shades of green, browns, and deep reds. Roger Moss' book on historic colors captures this well. New colors were being introduced during this period, too, so the options were much greater
There are two common mistakes with exterior paint colors that I see. The first is to paint a house that would have had many colors just one color, usually white. Take a look at the two houses below (which sit side by side in a Boston suburb). The one painted all white really obscures the wonderful detail that was so important in this period. The multi-color scheme expresses the architectural detail. In point of fact, however, neither scheme is historically accurate. These houses would likely have had dark trim colors against medium body colors. Light (or white) trim colors were not commonly used until the 20th century.
Here's another case, this time with side by side Eastlake style houses in the town of Hudson, MA probably dating to the 1870s.. During this period color would have been used to pick out some of the architectural detail. Again you notice how the version painted in white- while a beautiful house- fails to do justice to the great carpentry.
The other common mistake is to make any late 19th century house look like a "Painted Lady". The books by that name are responsible for garish bright paint schemes from sea to shining sea. While purples, pinks, and aquas may please some people, in my opinion they look out of place, especially here in New England. Yes, some vibrant colors were used in the late 19th century, but earth tones still were the predominant palette.
Instead of this paint scheme ....
....for my money, I'd take either of these schemes any day:
Or this beautiful palette ...
Sometimes historic paint colors were used to suggest other materials, in particular to suggest that a wooden house was actually built of stone. I once worked on an 18th century house in western Massachusetts that had rusticated board siding (this is wood planks made to resemble blocks of stone by carving fake mortar joints into the wood). They used a reddish brown paint designed to look like the local brownstone and they actually added some brownstone dust into the paint. For the "joints" they used a white paint. George Washington used this same technique on Mount Vernon.
Of course the good thing about paint schemes is that- unlike getting rid of a house's original windows- they are not permanent. An inappropriate scheme can be painted over by a future owner.
There are two main options when it comes to selecting historic paint schemes:
1. Use the original colors. This requires an experienced paint consultant who can analyze the original colors by looking at paint samples taken from the house under a microscope. This is not inexpensive, but for some owners, the result justifies the expense. Paint analysis can also be used to determine the colors used in later renovations. For example, if an 18th century house was renovated in the Italianate period, an experienced consultant can sometimes determine what the Italianate colors were.
2. Use period appropriate colors. This can be done by either finding some good books and following the guidelines therein, or hiring a historic color specialist. Many of these consultants will work from a distance: you pay a feee, send them some photos of your house, and they provide some period appropriate color schemes. Some preservation organizations have commissioned lines of period-appropriate colors. These include The National Trust and Colonial Williamsburg. Here in Massachusetts, the Cambridge Historical Commission has published a guide to historically appropriate colors.
Some paint companies and websites offer online tools that allow you to upload a photo of your house and "try on" different colors on a computer monitor.
One more note: many historic houses in America had windows (and exterior shutters) that were painted dark. Black and green were the two most common colors in the 19th century. Painting your window sash a dark color will enhance the look of almost any historic house, while painting them white tends to detract from the look. Here's a window on my 1831 Greek Revival, below. The sash and shutters are painted Black Forest Green. Note the straw yellow body and the white trim.
Not sure where to turn? We've been renovating and restoring historic houses, barns, and churches for almost twenty years. We'd be glad to point you in the right direction, so give us a call or drop us a line.
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
While we're primarily known as historic renovation contractors, we've broken ground on a new timber frame house on a picturesque horse farm west of Boston. From time to time I'll be updating you on our progress. It should be a pretty interesting project. For one, we're using a precast foundation, instead of the standard poured in place technique. Pre-cast foundations are catching on, and for good reason. It can be a challenge to form and pour a foundation during the winter months in New England. With this system (we're using a company called Superior Walls) there's no need to worry about how the cold weather will impact the foundation.
The panels were made in a factory in Pennsylvania and shipped to our site:
They were placed into position by a crane and bolted together. The seams are sealed with a caulking specially developed for this purpose.
There are a number of other benefits to this system. First, it makes for a very energy efficient foundation. There is a continuous layer of rigid foam insulation and when that is augmented by insulation placed in between the concrete "studs" you achieve a rating of R-30 which is phenomenal for a foundation. Second, finishing the basement space- as we'll be doing on this project- is very simple. Your drywall can be screwed directly to the metal bands embedded in the concrete studs.
The house itself is being made by BensonWood timber framers of New Hampshire. They'll be installing the shell and our crew will be finishing both the interior and exterior.The first floor was installed in panels yesterday, as you see below. Check back in the months to come for more about this project.
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
As an old house renovation contractor I am often approached by homeowners who want to replace their old windows. Sometimes this is the first item on their list when they buy an old house. They reason that the old, drafty windows are inefficient and hard to use and- quite honestly- often they are correct. But is trading in the old windows for new ones the best option? I don't think so and I'll tell you why.
First, is the aesthetic argument. It is hard to overstate the contribution that windows make to the look of the house. Original, historic windows have the right proportions for the house and often have a delicacy that new windows lack. A contributing factor, too, is the character of the old glass with its waves and bubbles. Muntins (the slender pieces of wood between panes of glass) have profiles that are true to the period and style of the home. Georgian windows have a different profile, for example, than Greek Revival windows. Modern double glazed windows typically have fairly wide muntins that don't look right in most old houses. Whether you have an 18th century house or one that's only a few decades old, if you go with a replacement window your profile options are limited.
Also new windows come with spring balances or other mechanisms for holding the windows up. Many of the larger companies have improved the look of the balances and jamb liners, but still a lot of new windows have cheap looking vinyl jamb liners, like the one pictured below.
Second, keeping your old windows and restoring them is the green thing to do. Why throw the old windows into a landfill when they could be restored and given a new life? It's much more environmentally friendly to keep the old windows.
Third, the energy efficiency of restored and weather-stripped windows- when combined with a decent storm window- is usually pretty close to that of a typical replacement window.
Fourth, simple economics. The payback period for new replacement windows- the number of years it will take to recoup the expense of the windows through the energy savings- can be as long as 40-60 years becuase the energy savings per window is so small. It usually doesn't make sense economically to replace old windows.The payback period for weather-stripping and storm windows is much less.
Finally, new windows are much less reliable and less repairable than old windows. My house, for example, still has the original window sash from 1831. That's almost 180 years of service life and they're still going strong! Modern replacement sash, on the other hand will not last anything close to that long. Most insulated glass will fail in less than 25 years because the seal between sheets of glass will fail and the glass will fog up. Modern sash are not easy to repair. When one breaks it is often necessary to buy a replacement sash. What happens when replacement parts are no longer available? Historic windows have parts that are readily available and most handy homeowners can replace sash cords, fix a broken pane, or install weatherstripping.
Not convinced? Check out the Weatherization Guide put together by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. There's a lot more information there, including some case studies comparing the economics of restoration vs. replacement.
If you decide to keep your old windows you may wonder what to do next. If you're handy and feel up to doing the work yourself, there are a lot of resources on the web. A quick Google search on "window restoration tutorials" or "window restoration videos" will turn up some really helpful resources. If you decide to hire someone to do the work, ask your state historic commission if they can recommend an experienced window restoration company.
We're currently restoring the windows on a ca. 1870 house in Brookline, MA. As you can see in the photo below, we've removed the sash to strip the paint, repair broken glass, reglaze, prime and paint the sash. The sash will be re-installed but not before we weatherstrip the jambs with v-shaped bronze weatherstripping.
If you leave in or around Massachusetts, give us a call. One of our
restoration carpenters is a window restoration specialist. He's
restored windows for us on houses of every period. We can
also provide wood or metal storm windows and screens.
What have you done with your old windows? Let us know what you think.
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
As a renovation and restoration contractor here in Massachusetts, I have built a lot of additions on to historic houses. Contrary to the philosophy of some preservationists, who feel that new additions should read as new additions and not pretend to be old, my philosophy is that additions are much more pleasing when they complement the architectural style of the original house.
In previous posts we discussed some of the concepts involved with designing appropriate looking additions for historic houses. Additions should not overwhelm or compete with the original structure, not should they looked tacked on. So in those posts we talked about ensuring that the roof placement of additions is correct and that the trim on the addition is sympathetic to that on the original structure.
In this post we'll look at the issue of massing. How large is the addition compared to the existing house? If it's as large or larger, it will best when broken down into smaller components, rather than one large mass. In the photo below, you see almost 5000 square feet of new space added to an 18th century house of about 2200 square feet. But because the addition was designed as a series of smaller shapes, it is less overwhelming to the original. Everything to the left of the chimney is new.
In the photo below, everything between the main house to the left and the attached barn to the right is new space. Originally there was a one story ell connecting the two. Notice how the roof line of the addition is broken and brought down much lower in the right-hand part of the addition, as if these two sections were built at different points in time. This decreases the visual mass of the addition and helps to blend the new space bettwe with the old. Imagine if the second floor roofline were carried all the way across to the barn- the addition would have overwhelmed the original house. (To see the completed house, check it out in our portfolio).
Conversely, tiny little additions look odd when tacked on to larger houses, as illustrated in the photo below. Of course, it doesn't help that the addition has almost no architectural detail!
There must be a more gradual transition in size. This is why the traditional Big House-Little House-Back House-Barn structure of old New England farmhouses is so appealing to the eye. These houses look organic and natural. There is a clear visual hierarchy of importance among the sections of the house.
Our advice? Work with an architect. Most builders, even those that bill themselves as design-build firms, have not mastered the subtleties of designing additions. And I say this as a contractor. Are there exceptions? Of course, but I believe that your odds of getting the results you want are higher when you work with an architect who has a track record of designing additions.
Also, it's really helpful to use models to help you visualize your proposed addition. Either physical models or virtual models, like the one below, obtained in most CAD programs can help you understand how the new addition relates to the existing house. If you're working with an architect, ask them to generate some 3D perspective drawings of the project or- even better- see if their software allows for 3D "flyovers". If you're not working with an architect yet, and you're in the Greater Boston area, let us know. We would be happy to recommend some architects that we think do a nice job designing additions on old houses.
(model courtesy of Latady Design, Bedford, MA)
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
We're involved in a project about 30 miles west of Boston, MA in which the clients have decided to build a new house. Therefore, their current house needs to be removed from the site. The house was built around 1750-1775. It's actually in very good condition and still has much of its original material: the post and beam frame (of course), doors, windows, flooring, wainscotting, fireplace surrounds, etc.
It was originally a two over two which means that it had two rooms on each floor. At some point in the late 18th/early 19th century the house was about doubled in size.
We would love to save the house from demolition. The house could be dismantled and re-assembled on a new site. The house is about 2600 square feet and of course additions could be added to it. It would make a wonderful house: lots of character and, because it would need to be rebuilt- it would have modern mechanical systems, wiring, and insulation.
The dismantling process involves carefully documenting the house through photos and drawings, labeling the components andthen taking it apart piece by piece.
If you are interested in taking on such a project- or know someone who may be- please let us know. Here's a look at a previous dismantling project that we did.
Landmark Services Inc has been restoring and renovating historic houses in Massachusetts for almost 20 years. Put our team of craftsman to work on your historic New England house!
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
In the course of a recent renovation of a ca. 1795 home in Milton, we
needed to replicate an original rooftop balustrade.The one surviving
section displayed a "spider web" pattern composed of many small pieces
of wood nailed together.
Concerned that wood would not
hold up to the elements well in this situation and would require a lot
of maintenance, we explored other options. After much research (and
some soul-searching) we decided to reproduce the balustrade by having
the panels milled from sheets of PVC imitation wood. We're very
pleased with the result. Visually, the new panels are indistinguishable
from wood. But in terms of strength and maintenance, the PVC product is
superior.
We brought the surviving panel to a friend who has a CNC machine in his shop and asked him to cut the new sections from sheets of PVC material (one popular brand is Azek). A CNC machine is a cutting and shaping machine controlled by a computer. Our friend Nick programmed the pattern into his computer by tracing the original with the cutting head and entering the key positions into the software.
The rest was simple. He laid 4' x 10' sheets of 1 1/4" thick material on the table and pressed a button activating the cutter head. The result was 30 panels matching the original in appearance but stronger and better able to hold paint.
While some may argue against the use of synthetic materials in historic renovation projects, we feel that they are appropriate in some situations. In this case, the use of this material does not affect the aesthetics of the project, but provides the homeowners with a longer lasting product that will require far less maintenance than would have been the case if we had used wood.
PVC trim is certainly not the right choice for most of our projects. Wood has a subtlety in appearance and touch that cannot be matched by synthetic materials and-except in rare cases such as this balustrade- we stick with traditional materials when we can. One other great use of PVC wood, though, is any trim that comes in contact with the ground such as the lower trim boards on a porch.
Landmark Services has been renovating historic Massachusetts houses, barns, and churches for almost 20 years. Have a look at our project portfolio to see some of our past projects.
We'd love to help you plan and build your project so give us a call!
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
Last time we
discussed how important it is to place the roofline correctly when
adding on to an old house. If the roofline is too high or set at the
wrong pitch, the addition could look awkward or even overwhelm the
original part of the house.
Now let's talk about exterior
details. Too many additions on historic houses suffer because
contractors use stock materials instead of trying a little harder to
make their work blend with the original house. Most of our clients want
their additions to blend in with the original house. They want the same
level of detail: period appropriate windows, moldings, etc.
We start by looking at the trim of the original house: the roof trim (rakes, fascias and soffits), cornerboards,
window and door trim, and so on. Does the old house have large
overhangs as seen below? Or was the trim shallower? How does the rake
trim meet the fascias and soffits? Are there decorative brackets on the
house? What's the profile of the moldings? Molding profiles change with
the architectural style. Do the moldings on the house seem original or
were they changed at some point? How thick are the windowsills? What
materials sis they use?
Once we've assessed the existing trim we
face a choice: do we exactly duplicate the trim on the addition to
match the original house? Historically, it was not uncommon for a
historic house to have a slightly lower level of detail on rear or side
ells than the main house had- even if they were built at the same time.
This was particularly true in the second half of the 19th century on
houses that boasted elaborate trim. If that's the case, we'll often
scale down the trim on the addition. Often, however, it is more
appropriate to use the same trim details on the addition as on the main
house.
If the budget allows, we'll replicate the profile of the
old moldings exactly, either in our shop or from a molding supplier. If
there are brackets, we'll duplicate those, too. When matching original
trim it is important to look at the thickness of the original trim, as
well as the profile. Historic houses often used thicker trim than
typically used these days, which results in a more substantial look and
deeper shadow lines. It's surprising, for example, how much different
standard 3/4" cornerboards can look on a house than ones that are 1"
thick. The former often look like cheap substitutes - which they often
are.
To replicate moldings in our shop we use a molding machine
and use heavy steel knives ground down to the intended profile.
Sometimes, however, we find stock moldings that- with a little work-
will do the job. We'll take a stock molding that's close to the
original and maybe rip a little off one side, or add a bead detail with
a router. Whenever possible we try to stay away from installing
moldings right off the lumber yard shelf.
The project shown
below is an extreme example of matching original trim on an addition.
The original (ca. 1860) house features some pretty spectacular
carpentry. Since the goal of the project was to make the addition look
like part of the original house, we took pains to make our work match
down to the smallest detail.
Here's the house before we started work. The brick was added in the 1950's.
Here
we are part way through. We have the addition framed,roofed, and partly
trimmed. You'll also notice that we have taken the brick off and
discovered the original tongue and groove siding. We had some more
reproduced for the addition.
The
completed project! By faithfully reproducing the original trim,
milling reproduction siding, and even installing granite veneer stones
on the foundation, it is nearly impossible to tell that this is an
addition.
Landmark Services has been building additions to historic Massachusetts houses for almost 20 years. Have a look at our project portfolio to see more of these additions.
We'd love to help you plan and build your addition! Give is a call. We're Landmark Services, The Old House Experts.
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.
How
many times have you seen a nice old house ruined by an unsightly
addition? Some additions "read" as additions from a mile away. It doesn't
have to be that way. With some careful planning, it is quite possible
to design and build an addition that blends beautifully with the
original house. Over the course of 3 or 4 posts, I'll review some
guidelines that will help your proposed addition co-exist with and
complement your historic house, rather than detract from it.
Often,
when people are adding on to a historic house, they are so focused on
maximizing the new space that they forget to think about how the house
will look from the street. Take a look at the house below. The original
house is a cute, mid-19th century cottage. But the addition, instead of
taking its cues from the main house, has absolutely nothing in common
with it.
Let's start with the roof. First, the ridge is higher than that of the old house. Cardinal sin. Rule #1: If possible, place the ridge of the addition lower than that of the existing house.
If the ridge must be higher, consider inserting a lower, connecting
roof in the middle, as we did to the house in the photo below. This
will soften the difference in roof heights. In our case, the addition
was not actually higher than the main house, but the "connector" roof
still works because it breaks the mass of the addition down into
smaller pieces, making it compete less with the original.
Let's
take another look at the roof of the first house. Do you notice
something else that doesn't fit with the original house? Answer: the
roof pitch. The addition has a much shallower roof. It looks,
well, cheap. Take another look at the second house, in the photo below.
The pitch of the addition (on the left) matches that of the original.
In fact, the pitch of the new dormer also matches the pitch of the
dormer on the old roof. It looks natural, like its always been there.
Now look back to the first house. It look tacked on. So let's make Rule #2: try to design the addition with a roof pitch matching the original house.
Take
one more look at the first house and notice how the gable trim on the
historic house has a large, decorative overhang. The gable on the
addition has a simple piece of 1x6 trim tacked on with no overhang.
Again, no effort was made to use the vocabulary of the original house
on the addition. On our addition, yes the trim on the addition is very
simple, but it matches that of the main house in every way- we even
re-created the curve at the lower end of the roof.
Next
time, we'll look at some other things to keep in mind when designing
and building additions to historic houses, such as massing, matching
trim details, and how to handle windows. In the meantime, take a look
at these
additions that we built on some old Massachusetts houses.Landmark Services has been building additions to historic Massachusetts houses for almost 20 years. Have a look at our project portfolio to see more of these projects.
We'd love to help you plan and build your addition!
Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? All are welcome! We'd love to hear from you so please comment on our posts.
Mark Landry is the President of Landmark Services, Inc, one of the premier old house renovation contracting firms in Massachusetts. He loves old houses and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your renovation, restoration, or addition.