This customer was a growing family of eight who purchased a home in an historic neighborhood established in the 1920's. Homes built in this area between 1926 and 1960 were not as equipped to accommodate a family of 8 as modern construction. The challenge of this project was to give the customer more living space, more kitchen space, adequate bedrooms and baths while keeping the historic look of the home to fit with the other neighborhood homes and HOA building guidelines.

The majority of the second floor became dedicated to the master suite. This included a large walk-in closet and master bathroom with separate shower and tub areas. The existing rear bedroom was converted to an entrance to the master suite and an oversized utility room (which would minimize moving laundry between floors). A family this size had an au-pair who needed her own bedroom as well. A small nursery and adjoining bedroom were created for the baby and au-pair.

By foregoing their 22'X22' garage, the customers were able to convert this space into a large family room with adjoining addition that extended the kitchen eating area. The existing breezeway was converted into a mud/entrance room for the children and a smaller den area that could double as a guest room with full bath was created too. This transformation was one of many challenges; however, the end result was one that made the customer, building/project teams, and neighbors very happy.

The customer's goal was to put an exclamation point on a finish-ready space left by their builder.

The corner lot orientation of the house greatly affected the entry point for most visitors. Rather that walking a significantly longer distance using the front walkway, porch, and entry door, most everyone chose the garage entrance rigth into the back side of the kitchen. The entrance from the garage dumped visitors right into the already crowded back side of the island causing a Mechanicsville log jam...that had to be fixed!