Another important design feature was to address the differing floor levels between the two structures, requiring careful placement of the stairs to work with the spaces and not against the intended flow.

We designed all roofs to be sloped so they could all be shingle type, which we also designed to have vaulted ceiling spaces.  The owner elected to keep the connecting addition roof a low-slope flat roof to simplify construction.

In the 3d images you can see the existing structures as the masses with the roofs which are not green.

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Another part of the project was the removal of a window over the kitchen range to replace it with a tiled wall. While the natural light and view the window provide was nice, the greasy glass surfaces from frequent frying meals created a maintenance nightmare.

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• It had a fireplace dividing the main living area.
• It had a very low ceiling and a low-slope roof.
• The kitchen needed to be much larger for more storage and better usability.

They decided to have us keep the house walls, remove the existing roof structure, and replace it with a scissor truss system to create cathedral ceilings in the great room. We improved the walls structurally by adding an additional layer of OSB sheathing (the modular sheathing was a fiber board which was questionable for supporting the new roof). This work also allowed for new siding and a plane of continuous insulation to meet the current energy code. We added a small entry nook to keep the great room geometry clean, and to provide a small entry porch.  The old fireplace was removed and a new fireplace in a corner was installed.  A box window for the kitchen provides views and a nice shelf for plants.

The new cathedral ceiling makes a significant impact on the feel of the space, and the overall remodeling makes for a very comfortable home!

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We worked with Saint Paul Lutheran Church of Villa Park on both the renovation of their church, and in converting this house into their new parsonage.  It was after we were hired for the church project that the church saw the opportunity to buy this adjacent property. Their original parsonage was adjacent to this house and their initial thought was to tear this down for parking.  While this house lacked aesthetic value, we encouraged the church to renovate this house and tear down the old parsonage so that all parking could be together and not surround the old parsonage.  In the future event that the church was sold, this property could then be treated as a separate property.

We did three studies for the house, two to add above and one encouraged by a construction manager who convinced the church that a two-story addition on the back would be cheaper, which turned out not to be.  it turned out to be more and that contractor was not hired.

The interior was fully gutted and renovated.  A central stair to the basement was removed and replaced with a new stair along an outside wall to allow for an open plan concept with the narrow house.  For the upper level addition, the stair to this level was stacked above the new basement stair.  The front stoop became a covered porch with a small sitting area.  The basement was originally not going to be renovated but remedial work was necessary and once this became living space, an egress window and window well had to be provided.  The village initially required three new egress windows to meet light and vent code, but we were able to talk them down to one window to minimize budget in that there were no sleeping rooms at this level. We added a small roof to the south side of the house to keep direct sunlight out of the living room windows and patio door, reducing cooling costs.

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The homeowner came to us with a design used for another house he wanted to incorporate into his master bedroom and garage addition.  We massaged the design a couple of times to both work with existing roof lines and meet city height requirements.  The upper level master bedroom has a dramatic cathedral ceiling.  The addition was asymmetrical to the existing house to preserve required bedroom windows.  Another unusual feature was to cantilever the floor structure for the master bath to get everything the homeowner wanted to fit, which added to roof complication but we worked it out.  A last minute request was for the large round window in the center of the master bedroom gable, right where we had a roof beam support post.  The solution was use four quarter-round windows to create the large round-window look and keep the support post.

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This is a retirement home for a couple in St Joseph, Michigan. There is a school with a baseball field next door and we created a deck over the garage to allow them to view games from their deck…how Wrigley. The house has a full basement, but with the unique grades it is only a few steps down from the garage as the main house is elevated like traditional bungalows.  Interior Designer Donna Natale Mason added the gable features and selected the striking colors.

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Our client contractor wanted to add a six-car garage to his home with a full second story, and as with all additions make it not look like an addition.  We did a makeover to the house to help existing and new blend in.  A new front porch helped immensely to take away the look of the cantilevered upper level and it created a deeper porch than what the new porch roof would suggest.  The porch roof extends to a useful powder and mud room off the garage.  We replaced and reoriented the upper level windows on the existing house to improve on the aesthetics as well.  The before-after transition is dramatic!

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This was a vertical addition to a house a few lots south of Lake Michigan.  A city ordinance requires new roofs to be perpendicular to the lake  to help improve views opposite the lake, and because the city wants boaters and beachcombers to see gable roofs.  The house and original roof were oriented parallel to the lake. For the new roof to run perpendicular created a structural challenge, solved by framing the roof with flat I-joists parallel to the roof slope to transfer loads to the exterior walls, eliminating the need for beams to support traditional rafters.

Little work was planned for the main house level, but of course removing the roof meant that timing of the construction had to be just right.  Unfortunately this builder was very incompetent and far more rain and snow infiltrated the house than should had. They took off the roof and THEN questioned out structural approach, but eventually accepted it and proceeded but not before stopping for two rainy and snowy spring months. Fortunately for final details the original builder was let go and a lot of issues corrected.  Floors had to be refinished due to the water damage.

All photos of the interior are of the upper level addition.  The original chimney we intended to keep and extend had to be redone also as it was improperly installed.  One enters the upper level through an office from a stair in the existing vaulted ceiling kitchen.  A door leads to the vaulted ceiling master bedroom with the north wall filled with windows facing Lake Michigan, and the south wall having doors to the master bath and closet.  The master bath has an open Roman Shower.  A small roof deck provides a great view to Lake Michigan over adjacent houses.

The final three images show the existing house and construction: the street side front, the unusable finished attic, and the last photo being a view of the gable roof framing during construction, showing I-joists parallel to the roof slope with furring below for drywall.

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