This large Georgian Revival sits in a lovely setting; the house is cradled on three sides by woods, with a long, sloping field for a front yard. But once inside, the house took on a Hotel California persona – try as one might to get outside, it felt like you could never leave. The house had grown piecemeal over the years, leaving rooms and views hemmed in. The last of the additions was also painfully unattractive – a clunky greenhouse with Texas-sized arched windows above drawing attention where none was warranted.
We did not want to fix what was not broken so turned our attention to the modern additions that had sealed off the kitchen and breakfast room and burdened the well-composed facades with gangrene. We threw away the ad hoc additions. In their place is a new conservatory that is the hub of the house. Open to the conservatory is the kitchen and breakfast room, which now enjoy the light and views afforded by the conservatory. In turn the conservatory opens itself to the bucolic setting, including an expansive deck off of the second floor bedrooms, restoring a healthful relationship between house and site.
