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.
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.