Renderings - The project starts to feel real

I called Dennie Branson today and like him immediately. I learned that he used to own an Italianate house up the street next to the funeral home. Sadly, it has since been torn down. But he clearly understood old house issues. He was great. He knew exactly what to do.  I quickly realized that Horace & I would be out of town when Planning and Zoning met next, but Dennie was confident that he and Tim could handle it. And after talking to Dennie I was confident too.


Dennie said we needed actual pictures of the house and computer renderings of what the addition was going to look like. This is when the project really came alive. The renderings took the flat drawings and showed you what it might really look like. After three years of imagining the addition I got a real picture. Now I had to control my enthusiasm, after all, we didn't have the variance, we didn't have the financing and even if we had both it is getting awfully late in the year to start such a large project.

The portico and driveway really made the project. Those two elements to me pulled the project together. Without them I think the addition would feel incomplete. And the convenience of a driveway after 12 years of parking on the street would make me feel like we were living in a new house.

Tim tied the portico in to the house so that there were two permanent parking spaces plus a circular drive. You could park and walk into the new side entrance. The kitchen would only be steps away.



   

Suzi's Second Option

Suzi's second option reduces the number of cabinets by doing more drywall.  The cabinets go to 9'-9" and then a large crown treatment.  The ceiling crown goes around the room.  There is a drywall pantry with a niche above, to the right of the back door.  


She put shelves over the windows as an option to glass door cabinets.   This plan has a single, 2 level island.  A steamer unit in this plan, but the refrigeration was reduced to a 36" wide unit (2 freezer drawers).  The 60" Aga is surrounded by drywall with recessed shelves for spices, oils & vinegars on the inside and curved wood bookshelves facing the living area.  The bookcase option would probably be less expensive than a cabinet unit and the curved shelves was just to do something different.   The main sink along the back wall looks out into the side garden, with a standard DW & trash cans flanking it.  It's a large single bowl sink which is a great option for the clean-up sink - large pans will sit inside - no divider to get in the way.  The prep sink and a single dish drawer are in the island.  She included the drop down door microwave and the coffee system. She added the lamps to the island because I thought they were neat.

Suzi's first option

Suzi's first option takes the cabinets to the ceiling.  It has a 60" Aga range, separate refrigerator & freezer units, a wine captain, drop down door microwave, coffee system, a standard dishwasher and a single dishdrawer.  There are 2 islands and 2 levels for seating - stools with 24" high seats & stools with 30" high seats.  The round top could be glass or wood - making it a focal point and differentiating it from the other tops. 

 She lined up the Aga with the opening between the islands so it would be visible and she flanked it with windows.  She put the prep sink in the corner so you would go from the ref., to the prep sink, to the cooking surface - a natural progression in preparing a meal.  She has pot & pan drawers flanking the Aga and spice pull outs flanking them.  The double trash cans will hold garbage in one and recycles in the other.  Suzi thinks the pull out towel bar is a must. The tall bookcase faces out into the living area, giving a decorative end to the cabinets.  The single dishdrawer is near the prep sink.  There are bars over the windows for hanging pots.  The wine captain could go under the coffee system instead of the microwave, making for a true serving/entertaining zone. 

This option would be the most expensive as far as cabinetry is concerned.

The door to the back yard is a glass door and provides a straight-thru view from the front entry hall out to the back yard.

Our First Kitchen Drawings

Suzi has been on vacation. She told me up front she wouldn't be able to start until she got back, but I was so anxious for the first drawings.

She has sent me three designs. Suzi tells me that each design is trying to show different layouts, cabinet heights, window placements, appliance options, etc.  Each option will have a floor plan with the basic details and perspective views.  She couldn't get everything I wanted in each plan but as we move forward we can figure out what's most important and needs to stay and what can go.  She didn't include the fireplace/pizza oven as they take up a lot of room and require lots of clearance (not to mention the pizza ovens are rather pricey). 

She suggested we make a few copies and write all over them - what parts we liked, what parts we could do without, what appliances are a must and which may go, etc. The plan was to mingle her ideas together and over time to come up with the perfect plan. It was a starting point.  She cautioned me that if we tried to take to cabinets up to our 13 foot ceilings that we were going to be looking at a lot of money.   The most expensive part of a cabinet is the door, so the more doors, the higher the price.  And with 13' ceilings it would require 3 doors as you go up, even if you do a large crown treatment.  

So I took the plans everywhere with me. If I had a spare moment I was studying the plans. I did exactly what she suggested, looking at the parts I liked and didn't like and tried to mesh the plans together.

Working with Tim Townsend to modify the design

The final plan for P&Z

Tim instinctively knew that the simple expansion wasn't going to give us enough room for everything Horace and I wanted in our new area. But the plans that he drew took too much space out of my garden, something Horace and I agreed was unacceptable. So one afternoon in the fall of 2010 I went to Lowes and bought engineering flags and tape and staked out my idea of how we could use the more of the side yard and less of the garden. It was basically Tim's design turned around a bit.

Knowing this is the last house we'll probably live in during our lifetime,we've spent a little more time making sure we've thought of everything. We wanted a bar area, expansive prep area, a cozy seating for two for dinner, a working fireplace, a den area, and a powder room. At least that's where the list started. Then  I realized I had the idea to add a driveway and a portico. Twelve years of parking on the street and carrying the groceries in the rain was beginning to get old.

After I got everything taped off I brought Horace out to the yard. He agrees it could work and goes back inside. I think GREAT! I call Tim and have him draw up the new ideas. The first drawing was short of what I had in mind, but the second on was right on. So I took the drawings back to Horace and he claims he had never heard this idea before. Geez! Men! Then I took him back out in the yard showed him where the tape had been several months earlier and showed him where he was standing when we discussed the changes. His memory was slowly coming back.

After Horace finally remembered how the drawings originated I told him the bad news. Tim says we'll have to get a variance because the new design gets a little to close to the street. This is where I am reminded that I am married to a former Chairman of Planning & Zoning. And tells me he thinks I'm making the project to difficult. But Tim's advice was sound. He said design the house you want and take the time and trouble to get the variance.

So I  ask Tim what do we do next. And thank goodness he knows the answer. He says call Dennie Branson. He's your go to guy. So I did.

A look at an Italianate Design

American Italianate homes were loosely modeled after the villas of Italy. The design is defined more by the ornamentation than by the structure itself. Basically, it's a simple box with a lot of ornamentation with respect to cornices, windows, porches and doorways. The key elements include:

•    Rectangular - It is usually a plain shape with a tight symmetrical floor plan.

•    Sloping Roofs - They usually have a slightly sloping roof with deep overhanging eaves, supported by a row of decorative brackets. 

•    Building Materials - Generally the homes were brick, stone or stucco.

•    Tall Windows - The windows are always tall and slim and most often rounded on the top.

•    Columned Entryway - A single story column supported porch protects the entrance way.

Square tower or Cupola - Most homes have a centrally places square cupola just above the roof line. 

Our home is in the Center Street Historic District in Henderson, KY. It is a four block long neighborhood, which reflects the evolution of late 19^th century domestic architecture. It is a large two-story brick home and according to documents developed for the Kentucky Heritage Council it is the best vernacular Italianate house in the district.

The details at the top of our home.

The arch detail above the windows.

The Kentucky Heritage Council documentation continues: “It is simple in form and detail, it employs a side passage plan with setback addition. The window openings are capped by segmental arches and the main entrance element is topped by a flat lintel. This element is reminiscent of the Greek Revival movement with the opening topped by a large glass transom and flanked by sidelights.

“The Italianate influence can be seen in the deep cornice elements with its elaborate, paired brackets, and in the flat roof. The structures location and setting do much to give it a feeling of prominence. Standing at the southwest corner of Center and Alvasia, the Brown House was constructed on a raised lot which sets it physically above the surrounding homes.”

But our home is small and very plain in comparison to one of the most famous Italianate homes in America, The Breakers, in Newport RI. We visited the Breakers a couple of years ago and it is amazing. I have included a little history and a few pictures here just so you can see the romance of the era.

The Breakers is the grandest of Newport's summer "cottages" and a symbol of the Vanderbilt family's social and financial preeminence in turn of the century America.

Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) established the family fortune in steamships and later in the New York Central Railroad, which was a pivotal development in the industrial growth of the nation during the late 19th century. 

The Commodore's grandson, Cornelius Vanderbilt II, became Chairman and President of the New York Central Railroad system in 1885, and purchased a wooden house called The Breakers in Newport during that same year. In 1893, he commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a villa to replace the earlier wood-framed house which was destroyed by fire the previous year. Hunt directed an international team of craftsmen and artisans to create a 70 room Italian Renaissance- style palazzo inspired by the 16th century palaces of Genoa and Turin. Allard and Sons of Paris assisted Hunt with furnishings and fixtures, Austro-American sculptor Karl Bitter designed relief sculpture, and Boston architect Ogden Codman decorated the family quarters. 

The Vanderbilts had seven children. Their youngest daughter, Gladys, who married Count Laszlo Szechenyi of Hungary, inherited the house on her mother's death in 1934. An ardent supporter of The Preservation Society of Newport County, she opened The Breakers in 1948 to raise funds for the Society. In 1972, the Preservation Society purchased the house from her heirs. Today, the house is designated a National Historic Landmark.

A Kitchen Designer?

So Tim says upfront I am not an interior designer. He says that you can call a custom cabinet shop and they will help you lay out a kitchen. But I have a client whose wife is a Certified Kitchen Designer, so I call her instead. Her name is Suzi Brock and she is in Tallahassee Florida. I contact her first through Linked In. And that's how our long distance relationship begins. I had contact Suzi several months earlier but I wasn't in any hurry so we really hadn't made any progress until I contact her again this month.

I now have a pretty solid idea of the space we have to work with and I have my dream list ready to share with anyone willing to listen. I have collected pictures from kitchen design magazines for nearly three years. I don't know what I can afford but I know what I want.

The wish list I share with Suzi is pretty long:

• Commercial Grade Stove;
• A warming oven;
• A double drawer dishwasher and maybe a regular dishwasher;
• Two Islands;
• Two sinks;
• Lots of storage; and
• A wine captain.

Horace and I want to work in the kitchen together, but we have very different styles and need distinct space. We want to entertain and have plenty of seating area around the kitchen islands. I want a pizza oven but know they are prohibitively expensive, but I have seen counter height gas logs that create the same look. I want a hood over the range and a maybe a pot rack.

I think after I have shared all this with Suzi we'll have a drawing that works in no time. But Suzi is a professional and she knows there is a lot more to it than a wish list. Suzi, like Tim, proves sometimes you just need a professional.

So Suzi sends me a list of questions for homework:

• How high will the ceilings be?
• Melodie's height _______________, right or left handed
• Horace's height ________________,  right or left handed
• Grocery shopping - daily, weekly basis, in bulk
• Do you know yet what material you will use on the floor?
• Any children/others living in the house?
• Any pets __________, if so, where are they fed and do you know of any specific provisions you want/need?
• Where do you intend to eat daily meals; do you want a table in the kitchen or is bar/island seating sufficient?
• What entrance will you use to bring in groceries?
• When entertaining do you have a sit down meal or buffet? 
• Are there any physical limitations or dietary needs to accommodate?
• Do you use the microwave for cooking or simply reheating?
• Do you do any specialty cooking: baking, canning, pasta making, etc, with special equipment that needs to be considered?
• Thinking of your current kitchen, previous kitchens you've worked in and any friends kitchens:  what did you like, what did you dislike?
• Do you like symmetry or asymmetry?
• You mentioned a private garden off the kitchen ~ will that be behind the house or through the double french doors off the family room?
• Do you like having a pot rack?

The questions seem simple, we'll have to wait and see if this is simple.

Hiring an Architect

Horace and I had spent enough time dreaming about a new kitchen that we felt like we could do it ourselves. But we had never done a project like this  so we decided we needed an architect. I had never thought about hiring an architect before so I wasn't sure who to talk to.    And then one day I was telling my brother about our idea and he reminded me that a friend of his from high school was now an architect in Henderson, but more importantly, he had done an old house project right after school and currently lived in an old house. So I gave Tim Townsend a call. I knew immediately he was going to be a good fit. We spent an hour talking about how important maintaining the original design integrity of the house was. Basically, we wanted an addition that would look like it had always been there.

So I invited Tim over to the house for a tour. He took a lot of measurements and we talked about everything we would want to include in the addition. We explained that we wanted to square up the house, have a kitchen and sitting/entertaining area. It seemed simple. But a few weeks later Tim sent back a drawing that had the basic idea with a couple of extras. Tim explained that to get everything we wanted in the addition we would need a little more room so he added a hearth room. Horace was certain that the additional section was not in keeping with the style of the house. But I knew Tim was right about one thing, we needed the extra space. So we let the plans lay for awhile. Three or four months later we started talking about the plans again, but this time we did a little more homework. Turns out Tim had added a standard feature (with a twist) of an Italianate home that we were missing. Our house didn't have the tower, cupola or bay window. Tim's addition, actually made the house more authentic rather than less. With that settled, Horace was ready to talk to Tim again.

We were still struggling with the way the bay area of the house was situated. We have a wonderful side garden and we didn't want to loose anymore of the garden than we absolutely had too. So we talked to Tim and he came up with a few more ideas.

Planning the Expansion

Owning an old home is great, that is if you like always having a project. And in a home that is over 160 years old there is usually more than one project going at a time. Over the past twelve years we've done several do it yourself projects, including refinishing floors, adding a bathroom, remodeling a bathroom, repairing leaky roofs and more. This old house has seen a lot of changes since we moved in. Some of the changes have happened simply because a house this old needs a lot of ongoing maintenance, but most of the changes happen because we were adapting the house to accommodate how we live.

To be honest, in a house with 13 inch solid brick walls from the cellar to the attic you aren't going to dramatically change the structure of the house. You won't be knocking down a wall to open up a space or add a closet. The layout of the house hasn't changed much at all in 160 years. Originally the house probably didn't have an indoor kitchen. Today the kitchen is tucked away in the back of the house, far away from the main entertaining area of the house. And while we have painted, wallpapered, repaired plaster, refinished the floors, etc., we have never been able to fix the fact that the house was laid out for a very different style of living. So about two or three years ago Horace and I started dreaming about an addition. Every now again, usually after a family gathering or a party we would casually discuss what we imagined an addition look like.

The living room and dining room are in the original double parlors off of a large main hall. With over a 1000 square feet of space there is certainly enough room for entertaining. Unfortunately, everyone wants to be in the kitchen that barely has 250 square feet. The house is build on an L design and an addition was put on probably sometime in the 1940's. That side addition was once a large open area with a side door that served as the main entrance to the house. Over the past twelve years we have divided the space to accommodate the laundry area, a pantry closet, junk room and a slightly upgraded entrance area. The only problem is the area has old windows, a roof that won't stop leaking and rotten siding. At some point it needs to be torn down and replaced. And that's where the vision for the addition started.

If we tore the already deteriorated area down and replaced it with an addition that squared up the house we could have a modern great room. A modern great room with modern (interpret that to mean new and working) features. Wow! This would change everything. Certainly the existing house at 4500 square feet has plenty of space, but a new kitchen with enough space to allow for modern entertaining would be my greatest dream for this house.

So now and again, Horace and I would start talking about how we would lay this new room out and what we would want if we could start from scratch. The best part about tearing the 1940's addition off and basically squaring up the L section of the house is that it would be a straight shot into the existing dining room and living room. All we would have to do is take out two windows and create double doors into the area. It was a simple idea. And sometimes those are the best.

The Governor's House - Lots of History

Our Italianate home was built during the civil war. It was a wedding present to John Y. Brown and his wife Rebecca from her father, the then Lt. Governor Archibald Dixon. Archibald Dixon was a grandson of one of the original Transylvania Land Company owners. The house was started at the end of 1860 or the beginning of 1861 and was completed around 1863.

John Y. Brown served as a Colonel in the Confederate Calvary and served in the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected as Governor of Kentucky in 1891.

John Y. Brown and Rebecca married on September 3, 1860 and raised their family in this house. The Browns had 8 children, Elizabeth in 1861, Arch Dixon in 1863, John Y. Brown, Jr. in 1865, Virginia in 1867, Susan in 1869, twins Dudley and Vance in 1870 and their last child Evelyn in 1872. The Browns lost their first daughter Elizabeth at age 5 in 1866 and both the twins as infants. Susan would die at age 22 in the Governor's mansion in Frankfort. And Arch, who served as his fathers personal Secretary while he was Governor, was fatally shot toward the end of his term reportedly by a jealous husband, Fulton Gordon.

John Y. and Rebecca returned to Henderson after his service as Governor. He passed away on January 11(my birthday) in 1904 and Rebecca died in 1922.

The Old Purple House

We bought this big, old house in 1998 sight unseen. We were moving from Paducah to Henderson. We rented our home in Paducah to a plant manager relocating to the area and we had to move within 60 days. We had looked at some properties but couldn't find anything big enough within our price range. I showed Horace, my husband, the ad for the auction. He said we didn't need an old house and left for work three counties away. I immediately called my Mother in Henderson and asked if she had seen it. No. But my Aunt went to the open house the weekend before so we immediately did a three way call. Aunt Mary said it was very big and in pretty good shape. Mom drove by the house and called me. She said I would remember the house, it was purple when I was a kid. She said its taupe now and I would love it. So we agreed that she would go to the auction that afternoon and call me.

Horace's last words before he left that morning was "Don't buy that house." So you can imagine my surprise when thru my Mom and a cell phone my low opening bid was the first and last bid. I couldn't believe it.

I immediately drove three counties away to tell Horace in person. As soon as he saw me, he said "You've been to that auction haven't you?" I said, "No I didn't go the auction, but I did buy the house". My excitement turned to fear when I realized what I had done. We had only been married 4 years, what if he hated the house. My son patted me on the back and said "Mom you said it would be ok". Unfortunately, as we drove to Henderson I wasn't sure.

We drove to Henderson that night. As we drove up to the house it was all lit up and the front light in the yard was on. I think one of the nicest things my husband ever said was "I think it's going to be alright." Whew! Fortunately Horace loved the house.

It's nearly twelve years later and sometimes I think Horace likes the house more than me. This is our home for life.

Old picture from the Kentucky Historical Society Files in Frankfort
circa 1970