The original structure, built in 1910, became Council Crest Streetcar Brakeman’s residence fell into disrepair and was slated for demolition until Woodling Partners and the Lehr Family Inc. remodeled it into the elegant and accommodating family home it is today. Once a small, cramped two bedroom 1,500 ft² house, the Brakeman’s Cottage was enlarged to roughly 3,000 ft² with a new habitable lower level and two new residential wings flanking the original structure which is prominently showcased at the center.

The design effort included an all-new, five-zoned under-floor, radiant heat system powered by an high-efficiency gas-fired boiler. The South-facing home was designed to admit and abundance of natural cross-ventilation and passively cooled in the summer with the help of spray-foam insulation and exterior window overhangs to protect the interior from the sun’s heat. The home’s new interior surfaces included recycled 100 year-old wood flooring recovered from a whisky distillery, low and no-VOC paint and non-formaldehyde kitchen cabinets. Dual-plumbed water-saving toilets were installed with a concrete water storage enclosure provided as an option for grey-water flushing.

The remodeled home’s interior details include matching leaded-glass transom windows, historically-accurate, locally-refurbished matching door hardware and custom light fixtures selected to complement the old-but-new Brakeman Cottage style. Today, the Brakeman’s Cottage honors the past as a lovely three bedroom, three bathroom, one study residence with a lower level family room and outside deck overlooking a new garage below that was carefully nestled into the structurally-reinforced, rock-walled lushly landscaped hillside.