Huestis Tucker Architects in collaboration with Fox Hill Builders has renovated a historic white-washed brick house located next to a nature preserve in Darien, Connecticut. Nestled on a quiet road, the owners selected this traditional home for its location and privacy, an idyllic place to raise their young children. However, the house was much too small, so they decided to renovate and add to the existing home.
The addition needed to meet the lifestyle needs of their growing family while maintaining the charm and scale of the original 1930’s brick house. Moldings and paneling were designed to give the new construction a sense of age and substance. The project was done in two phases, enabling the family to continue to live in the house throughout.
Above: The roofing is Timberline asphalt shingles, the color is weathered wood. The porch lantern is from Carolina Lanterns. The door was purchased from Ring’s End Lumber in Darien, CT. The front door and shutters are painted in a shade from Fine Paints of Europe. The pathway is bluestone.
The brick previously had a whitewashed look…it was painted white, but not all of the brick was covered. The architects wanted the addition to feel connected to the existing, and the owners did not want to use brick on the addition, so they decided to paint the brick to match the new shingles.
A challenge that presented itself to the architects was to keep the addition in scale with the existing white-washed brick house. Dormer windows were installed above the second-floor windows, along with a cupola and a new front porch, giving the original part of the dwelling more visual weight. Bedrooms were tucked under the eaves with dormered windows, minimizing the height of the new wings.
Above: The chandelier in the living room is the 8 candle Bell from Studio Steel. The trim color throughout the home is Simply White OC-117 | Benjamin Moore.
Above: In the living room, the colors were custom mixed with Benjamin Moore paint. The ceiling is similar to Horizon OC-53 | Benjamin Moore and the walls are similar to Pale Oak OC-20 | Benjamin Moore, only lighter. The trim is Simply White OC-117 | Benjamin Moore. The chairs and sofa are by Lee Industries. The cabinet is from Lilian August. The coffee table is sometimes referred to as a brick layer’s table. Restoration Hardware and Lillian August have something similar.
Above: The fireplace stone is a native Connecticut granite. The mantel was custom-made by the contractor. The living room is about 18′ x 24′. The height at the peak is about 18′; the top of the moldings that go around the room is about 10′. The ceiling is made of MDF boards, with a custom milled shiplap joint for the reveal. The windows are Marvin Wood, Ultimate Series. The carpet is sisal.
Above: The plant in the corner of the room is a Fiddleleaf Fig. On the mantel, the mirror is about 18″x24″ and it was from Home Goods.
The cabinetry was designed to add to the aesthetics while meeting the practical needs of keeping a large family well-organized. The trim and the cabinets are painted Simply White OC-117 | Benjamin Moore. The floors are red oak and the finish is a semi-gloss polyurethane. The ceiling is 8′. The beams are spaced about 6′ apart, the beams are located relative to particular cabinets or elements, so the spacing isn’t exactly the same. The beams are about 4-5 wide (not including the crown) and about 6″ deep. The kitchen and dining room area is approximately 15.5′ x 28.5′.
Above: This kitchen is approximately 16′ x 20′. The island is about 4′ wide by 8′ long. The countertop is Absolute Black granite with a leathered finish. The backsplash is a handmade ceramic tile. The cooktop is by Wolf. Cabinetry hardware was sourced from Restoration Hardware.
Above: The paint color above the chair rail is a custom mix of Farrow & Ball paints.
Above: In the dining room, the walls and trim are painted in Simply White OC-117 | Benjamin Moore. The table was an antique purchased by the homeowner. The ceiling is 8′. The casings are 4″ and the base trim is 7 1/4″.
What We Love: An older white brick house was transformed, with the help of an addition, into a wonderful home for a growing family. The architects did a fabulous job of blending the old with the new, where the wood shingles flow beautifully with the brick on the exterior facade. The interior is equally impressive, also mixing old with new from the furnishings and accessories to the material palette.
Tell Us: What design elements did you find most inspiring in this remodel and addition project? Please share your thoughts in the Comments!
Note: Have a look at a couple of other amazing home tours that we have featured here on One Kindesign in the state of Connecticut: Gorgeous French provincial house nestled on Long Island Sound harbor and Absolutely gorgeous Belgian farmhouse in New Canaan.
Above: The laundry room has a 24″ Rohl Shaw’s fireclay sink. The faucet is a Rohl Country Kitchen wall-mounted faucet. The counter and backsplash are honed Carrara marble. The cabinets are full overlay cabinets with recessed flat panels. They were custom-made by Queen Anne Cabinets in Connecticut. The room is about 9′ wide by 10′ long. The washer and dryer are hidden in the 3-foot deep cabinet on the right. The paneling is tongue and groove, v-groove board. The paint was Farrow and Ball, custom-mixed using light blue and white.
Above: In the daughter’s bedroom, the bed was an antique that was refinished and reupholstered. The closet doors were custom fabricated by the contractor using solid core wood doors with applied panel moldings and mirrors.
Above: The bathroom countertop is Calcutta gold marble. All of the cabinets were made by Crown Point Cabinetry in New Hampshire. The floor is honed Jerusalem Gold limestone. The dimensions of this bathroom are roughly 8′ x 13′.
Above: The daybed under the window is a standard twin mattress.
Above: The wall tiles are white ceramic, 4″ x 8″ subway tiles. On the floor, the tiles are 12″ x12″ Carrara, honed.
Above: The stone wall defining the patio is native Connecticut field stone. The patio flooring is bluestone. All of the exterior lighting is by Carolina Lanterns.
Above: The roof over the porch is standing seam copper. The doors and windows are by Marvin. The material covering the bay window is a combination of MDO boards, exterior grade fiber boards, and cedar boards.
Above: Here, you can see the entire house, with the transition of the original white brick house merged with the new shingled additions. The family is hockey enthusiasts, so the garage was designed with a structural slab to span above an indoor, synthetic ice rink for daily practices.
PHOTOGRAPHER Nancy Elizabeth Hill
2 comments