Trial By Fire
Text Below Taken from Article in Qualified remodeler May 2019 By Donald Lococo and Daughter Nicole Lococo
TRIAL BY FIRE
An architect and his family choose to view a house fire as an opportunity to shape their home to better suit their needs
“Your house is on fire!” – they were five words no one ever wants to hear. I hung up the phone, pick up my fife and we rushed to see our nome in Ruin. Luckily, no one was home, and the flames were extinguished by the time we arrived. The water that saved the structure had saturated the first floor and caused its own damage. Walls were stained by smoke, intense heat melted a ceiling light onto a bed, and soot and an intense sulfuric odor had contaminated almost everything. We learned that a handheld shoe-shine machine had toggled on, and in fifteen minutes caused our home’s utter destruction. As an architect, husband, and father, I was burdened with the realization that my family and I had lost our home and everything that it stood for. I embraced my devastated wife and promised her that I would transform our home from its tragic state into an opportunity for growth, which guided the design and rebuild.
A little more than decade earlier, I had renovated the original 1940s home on a tight budget. The financial limitations had constrained the design, and throughout the years, my family and I had grown and our needs for the space had changed accordingly. The post-fire renovation, while distressing in its necessity, was an occasion for the dreams for our home to be realized and to more fittingly suit our maturing family. The major goals for the renovation were to revitalize the entry procession, create more storage areas, to add space and light throughout the interior, and to encourage family spaces.
A three-story addition was added to the north front corner of the house which added storage in both the basement and attic to compensate for the property’s lack of a garage. The first and second floor expansions corrected the earlier non-existent entryway and crowded master bedroom, respectively. A new front trellis porch constructed for flowering Wisteria vines was designed to lead to a restructured entryway that opened to a new, generous front foyer. The new front door and foyer combination provided a marked improvement from the pre-fire floor plan where stairs immediately met the edge of the front door.
The second floor was given a new foyer which allowed natural light to flood in up the stairway to the third floor. Light was also prioritized in the master bedroom expansion, as two window groupings and a set of French Doors opened the room. At the foot of the doors, a custom, comfortable daybed was added – ideal for late Saturday morning lounging, a temporary sickbed or an alcove for our dog to nap in. Since almost none of the second-floor walls survived the fire, the remaining bedrooms were reframed to afford these spaces larger closets.
The third floor was imagined as a new, flexible family work-lounge space with multiple desk surfaces. The addition of a bathroom with a compact shower encouraged a multipurpose nature of the floor, easily transitioning itself from a guest room to a quiet haven for homework.
Once completed, the rebuilding of our home mirrored our family’s perseverance. The fire had brought hardship but had also made possible moments of profound kindness from others and provoked resilience within us. The renovation allowed the home to assume a nuanced sophistication characteristic of success weathered by trial.
"Trial by Fire" is a Merit 2017 Award Winner from REMODELING MAGAZINE 2017 DESIGN COMPETITION
Architectural Interiors by Donald Lococo. Interior Design by Donald Lococo (Except for window curtains, Living room coffee table, Couch in family room, Master bedroom bed sheets)
TRIAL BY FIRE
An architect and his family choose to view a house fire as an opportunity to shape their home to better suit their needs
“Your house is on fire!” – they were five words no one ever wants to hear. I hung up the phone, pick up my fife and we rushed to see our nome in Ruin. Luckily, no one was home, and the flames were extinguished by the time we arrived. The water that saved the structure had saturated the first floor and caused its own damage. Walls were stained by smoke, intense heat melted a ceiling light onto a bed, and soot and an intense sulfuric odor had contaminated almost everything. We learned that a handheld shoe-shine machine had toggled on, and in fifteen minutes caused our home’s utter destruction. As an architect, husband, and father, I was burdened with the realization that my family and I had lost our home and everything that it stood for. I embraced my devastated wife and promised her that I would transform our home from its tragic state into an opportunity for growth, which guided the design and rebuild.
A little more than decade earlier, I had renovated the original 1940s home on a tight budget. The financial limitations had constrained the design, and throughout the years, my family and I had grown and our needs for the space had changed accordingly. The post-fire renovation, while distressing in its necessity, was an occasion for the dreams for our home to be realized and to more fittingly suit our maturing family. The major goals for the renovation were to revitalize the entry procession, create more storage areas, to add space and light throughout the interior, and to encourage family spaces.
A three-story addition was added to the north front corner of the house which added storage in both the basement and attic to compensate for the property’s lack of a garage. The first and second floor expansions corrected the earlier non-existent entryway and crowded master bedroom, respectively. A new front trellis porch constructed for flowering Wisteria vines was designed to lead to a restructured entryway that opened to a new, generous front foyer. The new front door and foyer combination provided a marked improvement from the pre-fire floor plan where stairs immediately met the edge of the front door.
The second floor was given a new foyer which allowed natural light to flood in up the stairway to the third floor. Light was also prioritized in the master bedroom expansion, as two window groupings and a set of French Doors opened the room. At the foot of the doors, a custom, comfortable daybed was added – ideal for late Saturday morning lounging, a temporary sickbed or an alcove for our dog to nap in. Since almost none of the second-floor walls survived the fire, the remaining bedrooms were reframed to afford these spaces larger closets.
The third floor was imagined as a new, flexible family work-lounge space with multiple desk surfaces. The addition of a bathroom with a compact shower encouraged a multipurpose nature of the floor, easily transitioning itself from a guest room to a quiet haven for homework.
Once completed, the rebuilding of our home mirrored our family’s perseverance. The fire had brought hardship but had also made possible moments of profound kindness from others and provoked resilience within us. The renovation allowed the home to assume a nuanced sophistication characteristic of success weathered by trial.
"Trial by Fire" is a Merit 2017 Award Winner from REMODELING MAGAZINE 2017 DESIGN COMPETITION
Architectural Interiors by Donald Lococo. Interior Design by Donald Lococo (Except for window curtains, Living room coffee table, Couch in family room, Master bedroom bed sheets)
Project Year: 2016
Project Cost: $150,001 - $200,000
Country: United States
Zip Code: 20816
