It wasn’t the architecture that sold them on the house — a brick and aluminum sided ranch. Yes, it had a certain retro charm but, overall, the 1959 structure was outdated. It did have a marvelous, mid-century-style two-sided brick masonry fireplace and a good-sized living room area. But no, what sold them on the house was the location.
Tucked into the tree-lined streets of the Grove Park neighborhood, the home was minutes to downtown Asheville, yet the rear windows overlooked the golf course of the Grove Park Inn and the outdoor yard space was relatively level. Important considerations for a young family with three boys under ten. “We liked that it had the basement and a place for them to play,” says the man of the house.
The couple decided to give it a go, squeezing into the two upstairs bedrooms and sharing a small bath with the boys while determining whether to reconfigure the house and, if so, what direction that would take. “The hardest decision was whether we were going to keep the house or just get something else,” he recalls. “We’d renovated homes before and it is a stressful process. We looked at other houses, but the thing we kept coming back to was the location.”
Once the decision was made, they began a dialogue with Brad and Katie Rice of Bellwether Design-Build. “We had a lot of discussion about how far we were going to go,” explains the lady of the house. “At first, it was just getting rid of the carpet and putting in wood floors. Then we thought we’d renovate the tiny kitchen.
“But the lady who had built the house was an older, single person. She had it set up perfectly for her, but for five it was a challenge. We considered building up, but we liked the low profile and that the main living area was all on one level. Our wonderful neighbors suggested that we might want to expand horizontally, but we didn’t meet the setbacks, so they offered to sell us enough property to move the project out. We’d had a designer helping us with just some basic drawings, but at that point we needed a full architectural plan. That’s where Scott came in.”
Scott Huebner, AIA of Brickstack Architects agreed with maintaining the home’s basic profile. “One of the appealing things about the house is that from the street, it looks like a little cottage. The house had a modern soul to it that had been covered up. The two large windows overlooking the green were the genesis for the feel of the house — to try to include as much glass as possible and create an overall sense of openness.”
The first step was to remove the impediments to light and flow. Bellwether ripped up the old, deep pile carpet and installed 4-inch, select maple floors. A built-in bookcase beside the fireplace that separated the living and family room areas was removed and the enclosed staircase to the lower level was replaced with an open steps encased by powder-coated, steel railings that offer an unobstructed view of the downstairs play area.
Huebner laid out a sympathetic horizontal addition that would nearly double the living space, providing a master suite for Mom and Dad on the far side of the house which allowed them privacy while keeping the family all on the same floor. The plan also accommodated a second front entry into an expanded, ergonomic kitchen with a generous island and a breakfast area with built-in banquette where the boys can do their homework and interact with Mom while she prepares the evening meal.
Abutting the new walk-in pantry, a compact office space is tucked into a side-entry mudroom that boasts a set of tidy wood “lockers” for the youngsters to stash their coats, school bags and other such things, eliminating some of the clutter that tends to accumulate on kitchen counters. To complete the relaxed environment, an expansive terrace with covered dining area, just off the family room on the main level, allows enjoyment of the outdoor space.
The amended footprint also created space for a downstairs guest suite, which, along with two refurbished bedrooms on the lower level, makes the house extremely flexible and able to accommodate the trio of boys as they grow and desire a bit more independence.
Which was what the project demanded. “This renovation gives the family a house that functions well for them and allows everyone their personal space,” Huebner observes. “It was great to be able to solve the challenges and still have a really cool design. This house stays pretty true to what it is — and to what it wants to be.”
Brad Rice agrees. “To take a house and change it like we did, but still do it mindfully, where we aren’t tearing everything down and starting from scratch…going with what you have but, in the end, making it better — that’s very satisfying.”
And, in the end, the architecture may not have been what sold them on the house, but it’s now the reason that they will stay.