It's been a busy summer getting projects designed and ready for construction. But that means that there will be some new work to feature here as construction finishes up during the fall.
One addition that is underway is in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood. Here I have combined a couple of photos to give an idea of the 'before' condition:
It was built in the late 1940's as a one-story house, with a small room or two in the attic. Eventually the attic (second floor) was expanded to the rear – but these spaces were still quite small, with low ceilings throughout. A few years ago we worked together to improve the main floor layout, but the top floor remained untouched. So I was excited when these clients asked me back to design an addition to add a bedroom, a bathroom and make the current rooms more comfortable by increasing ceiling height and closet space.
The approach we took: Raise the roof, and make a dramatic change in the roof pitch. This creates the much-needed ceiling height, but also gives the house more presence from the street. The change in scale will make the remodeled house fit nicely with the surrounding steep-roofed tudors. Here's a concept model with the new massing:
And a front elevation view:
Finally a shot showing the recent progress as the house takes shape:
Note that the stair out front is just for construction access (a nice move by the contractor to keep workers out of the main floor). Soon I'll put together a more comprehensive post covering the process of adding a second floor to an existing house – it can be quite a challenge, especially when the finished spaces below are going to remain intact, as in this project. But it is also a great opportunity to improve the overall look and feel of an older house. Because of this potential for dramatic change, second floor additions are a favorite project type for me and I'm looking forward to sharing a few more.