Houzz Tour: Open and Cozy Family Space

Ranch Re-dressing Creates Light, Airy Home on Original Footprint

May 4, 2011
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected." I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia.
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe... More
Comment25
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When a couple with two young boys decided to move from Manhattan to Hanover, New Hampshire, they found a ranch house with potential, but one that required a major renovation. Priorities included keeping the budget in check, reconfiguring the space without additions to the existing footprint, and using as many local materials as possible. Enter architect Pi Smith, of Smith and Vansant Architects PC. "Each room was about 13 feet wide with light only coming in on one side," Smith says. "Our priority was to open up the existing rooms to one another and improve the flow, to make the house feel larger, and stay within a tight budget." Let's take a look at how she accomplished this.
Contemporary Exterior by Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Smith & Vansant Architects PC
This is the exterior of the home after the renovation. The main entrance used to be in the center of the facade, which chopped up the interior flow and meant there was pavement in front of most of the house. The new entrance is under the breezeway, which leads to the "mud alley" you'll see ahead. This allowed them to landscape along the front of the house, further connecting the indoors and outdoors.

The large bank of windows you see on the front of the house is where the attached garage used to be. The new breezeway connects a second existing three-bay garage to the main house, a necessity during New Hampshire winters.
Before Photo
Contemporary Before Pictures: Hanover NH
The exterior before: "Our goal was not to make the space bigger, but to make better use of it," Smith says.

To the left is the three-bay garage, which came in very handy. Wondering why a ranch had the space for five vehicles in garages? A former owner was a contractor who needed the storage and work space. I'm sure this has saved the owners countless hours of digging out cars and scraping ice off windshields.
Contemporary Entry by Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Smith & Vansant Architects PC
"We knew we needed to open up the spaces to each other to create views from room to room, which would make the house feel bigger," says Smith. This meant altering the entire floor plan, beginning with relocating the main entrance. Smith created a "mud alley" here, which navigates the space between the existing sunroom and former garage.

"Although the space is only four feet wide, there are plenty of places for the eye to go, both vertically and horizontally," Smith says. High ceilings make the space feel more open, and a Rais woodstove draws the eye to the end of the room, where light comes in from either side. Additionally, this space is packed with storage: underneath a long bench, bookshelves, places for coats and other winter gear, a counter, angled shoe shelves and cubbies for mail.
Contemporary Living Room by Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Smith & Vansant Architects PC
To the left of the painting, a window-sized opening into the mud alley entry hall allows a view to the front door; the main opening to the alley is on the right. This move allows the hallway to borrow light from the living room, which used to be a two-car garage.
Contemporary Living Room by Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Smith & Vansant Architects PC
The new living room enjoys a view of the woodstove. The material behind the stove is a 12" x 24" ceramic tile by Walker Zanger that has the look of a rust and silver patina.

In order to make the most of the space, Smith created "thick zones." This entailed creating walls that were deep enough to contain shelves for books, a pantry, and if you look on the right side of this image, even an upright piano. This eliminated the need for free-standing shelves and makes going from room to room a different experience.
Before Pictures: Hanover NH
The living room before: This is what the space above looked like when Smith was first introduced to the house.
Contemporary Kids by Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Smith & Vansant Architects PC
The other side of the entry hall housed a sunroom that has been transformed into a playroom for the boys. This castle loft play space is carpeted and has its own light, making it the ultimate fort. It also utilizes a thick zone in the form of these deep bookshelves down the side, which helps create a niche for the ladder.
Before Photo
Before Pictures: Hanover NH
The reason/inspiration for the castle loft? This awkward bump that enclosed the basement staircase. The castle play area surrounds it and makes great use of the formerly awkward and wasted space above it.
Contemporary Home Office by Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Another one of the main goals of the project was to improve the area that "contains so much of family life" — the kitchen. Here, the household's command central is right behind the castle loft.

"We used manufactured maple cabinets but added custom pieces that followed the ceiling slants to give an overall custom look," says Smith. "We also wanted to use wood in a contemporary way." This included choosing cabinets with crisp detailing, and mixing maple cabinets with a red birch floor, which is darker but has light streaks in it.
Contemporary Kitchen by Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Smith & Vansant Architects PC
The owner was on a mission to use local materials and discovered the beauty of Vermont slate for countertops in the kitchen. The red birch floors were sourced in nearby Western Massachusetts, and the floors were finished with a locally produced product made from dairy whey.

The iridescent glass tiles on the cabinet wall pick up the other colors in the room, reflect light, and make the space look larger; wine racks tucked over the cabinets maximize storage.
Before Photo
Before Pictures: Hanover NH
The kitchen before: Here's the same kitchen space before renovations began. "All of the rooms were like caves," Smith says.
Contemporary Kitchen by Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Here, another thick zone contains open pantry shelves. "These thick walls are a great way to organize storage," Smith says. They "allowed us to get sculptural with sheetrock and color (each thick zone is painted an accent color). We got a lot of mileage out of the 'thick zones' ... It's also a different experience to pass by a wall that's four and a half feet wide."

The Nelson Saucer Lamp can be viewed from other rooms and draws attention from afar.
Contemporary Dining Room by Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Past the thick pantry wall is the dining room, which used to be the living room. "Large arrays of windows added to the sense of indoor/outdoor connectivity," Smith says. Another budget-saving tip: Aiming to put windows in spots where openings already existed. "Oversized windows gave us a very good bang for our buck."

Another way Smith mixed woods in a modern way: The grooved wood ceilings in the dining room and living room are painted with a satin finish. "These ceilings bounce light around and add texture that references the country setting in a contemporary way," she says. As you can see, the ceilings also create a strong connection between the dining room and the living room.

In the spirit of using local materials, the owner purchased a dining table made of wood reclaimed from a local barn. The zinnia drum shade is hand-blocked linen by Galbraith and Paul.
Before Photo
Before Pictures: Hanover NH
While two of the bedrooms required only minor cosmetic alterations, the flow between them was disjointed. Thus, this new hallway was created. Around the corner is a glass door that leads outside. That and a new skylight, lends light to the hallway.
Contemporary Bathroom by Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Smith & Vansant Architects PC
In this master bathroom, "We ran the wall right up to the existing skylight, which wound up bouncing the light around," Smith says. This pleasant discovery, combined with the locally quarried Danby marble on the counter and the frosted blue penny tile, helps keep the bathroom bathed in light.

Manufactured maple cabinets mix with a few custom moves. The custom cabinet catches the counter on the left, which saved a few dollars on the countertop marble.
Contemporary Bathroom by Smith & Vansant Architects PC
Smith & Vansant Architects PC
"Danby marble has flecks of greens and browns, which pick up on the other colors in the home," Smith says. "Also, this counter is honed, which adds softness."

From the general layout of the rooms to the size of the openings between rooms, from creating storage walls that were four and a half feet thick to building in angled shoe shelves, thoughtful organization and arrangement was the key to making optimum use of the space. Additionally, the use of local materials and bringing in the light connects the home's interior spaces to the outdoors and celebrates the family's new New Hampshire surroundings.

More:
A Little Cottage Grows Up
A Family-Friendly Mid-Century Home
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Comments (25)
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kathleenabd
Beautiful. Looks like a complete renovation with walls coming down and ceilings being raised, etc. Wondering what a " tight budget" is on this kind of remodel.
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sphinxster
Just found this renovation and I'm awed. Hope you are all enjoying this home - it's a real stunner! Wish I had seen this before renovating our ranch, I really dig the thick/built ins.
   
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Becky Harris
sphinxster, I'm glad the notification of your comment brought me back to this project. It has been awhile and it was wonderful to revisit. Check out Smith & Vansant's other projects, they are all so amazing and resonate with so many Houzzers. This one was a huge hit:

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Ideabook: Houzz Tour: Beautiful, Hardworking Cape Renovation · See Ideabook
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