Architects & designers: need help on unique rooflines & addition ideas

10 years ago

We live in a 1930’s cottage with an odd
1985 addition & want to add another addition with a
living room on the first floor and a master bedroom/bath on the second. We want to connect the first floor of the addition
to the two windows to the right of the porch. The second floor can connect either where the skylights are, or to the right dormer on the cottage.

We have spend hundreds of hours with architects attempting to blend the rooflines without success. All of them have suggested we tear the house down
and start over.

We welcome all thoughts & ideas to help solve
our challenge.

Featured Answer

ourfarmhouse

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

I think you could do it.

I would oppose the roofline with a gable end and make it the main structure. Let the new addition straddle between the original house and the old addition. Let those old lower rooflines meet the taller roofline of the new addition. This unifies the structures right at your point of frustration, fixes it and helps to make sense of the whole structure. It now looks like one house, instead of two side by side.

You can then match the charm of the original house in the new addition and add charm in the '85 addition. You could make more sense of the different floor levels in this new addition...actually design into the floorplan where the level drops - maybe a sunken den or a raised mini-office.

With the '85 addition, the first thing I would do is to switch out the arched window to a flat-topped (rectangular) window. The arch looks dated. I would make sure the new window has muntins and then add muntins to the rest of your windows.

On the addition you would then add architectural details like a box bay window with a copper top, a stone skirt, a bumped out forehead gable, charming windows, etc.

On all corners of the house you could add corner boards, and then you would paint all the trim white or ivory.

Then you would landscape, landscape, landscape.

Here is how it could look...

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Comments (6)

PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
10 years ago
The first thing is usually the trusses and studs are not good enough to support a secondond storey so yes i gree tearing down and starting over is probaly going to be cheaper in the long run and what I find when trying to connect all the different rooflines they are more prone to problems with drainage and snow loads Maybe just look for another house that has what you want it seems like you have a large piece of land maybe build a new house and then sell the old one on a subdivided lot.
PRO
The Kitchen Abode Ltd.
10 years ago
I think there is a lot more to it than just the rooflines. Looks like the floor height and most likely the ceiling height in the 1985 addition does not match the original house. There are times when the current structure requires too much modification or too many compromises that it's just better to bulldoze and start fresh.

Graham
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jjackson333
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks, Graham. You are correct, the ceiling and floor heights are different between the cottage and 1985 addition, making it almost like a split level. Our thought was to sink the living room in the new addition by a foot or two so that the ceilings on the first and second floor would be at least 8 feet, without the roofline of the addition towering over the cottage. This is a tricky one.
PRO
The Kitchen Abode Ltd.
10 years ago
Have you considered demolishing the 1985 addition and then working/adding on to the original?

Graham
anastassiam
9 years ago
Great ideas!! I noticed quite few houses you redesigned on photoshop and I'm loving it!! Could you please help me and give me some advice on my home's curb appeal!! It's a big challenge.... Thank you in advance for your help!!

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/big-big-challenge-need-curb-appeal-ideas-dsvw-vd~4480152