Remodeling Guides
Architecture
Modern Architecture
Adding More of a Good Thing to a Midcentury Modern Home
Here’s how to add space and still keep the spirit of a vintage home
I love how midcentury homes often fit beautifully into their neighborhoods. Many are only a single story, with low-pitch roofs and subdued color palettes. The homes also tend to be small and are often in need of enlarging to accommodate contemporary households. Fortunately, designers have come a long way from the 1970s and ‘80s, when midcentury was out of fashion and additions often disregarded the original house design.
What is the best approach to making an addition to a midcentury home, while keeping the spirit of the original home intact? Should the addition harmonize or contrast with the existing home? Should the addition be placed out of sight from the street or be a new focal point? There is no right answer; it depends on the character of the original house and your own design personality. From the Pacific Northwest to Cape Cod, here are some creative approaches to adding on to a midcentury home.
What is the best approach to making an addition to a midcentury home, while keeping the spirit of the original home intact? Should the addition harmonize or contrast with the existing home? Should the addition be placed out of sight from the street or be a new focal point? There is no right answer; it depends on the character of the original house and your own design personality. From the Pacific Northwest to Cape Cod, here are some creative approaches to adding on to a midcentury home.
The windows of the original house, on the left in the photo, were replaced and the striking white exterior was maintained. The addition on the right was designed to contrast with the original home through its natural cedar siding, making a clear distinction between new and old and highlighting the design of the original.
The addition is also set back from the original house, with a deck and trellis occupying the space that links new and old to respect the original. The addition features a metal roof deck and railing that forms an overhang to shade the windows, a contrasting riff on the original home’s simple roof overhangs.
The interior design takes a different approach with a continuity of materials and finishes that tie the new and old together. Natural wood ceilings and flooring flow seamlessly from one end of the house to the other. The architect replaced the original fireplace with a suspended rotating fireplace that captures the spirit of midcentury modern design.
2. Spice It Up
Sometimes the modest appearance of midcentury homes borders on dull and can appear monotonous with similar houses lined up on the same street. An addition is an opportunity to improve the curb appeal. Add some punch by bringing in new forms and materials.
In this Kensington, Maryland, addition and renovation, Balodemas Architects started with a modest brick house with a gable roof that is still visible on the left in this photo. They designed a family room addition and entry porch with a butterfly roof, in which the roof’s low point is in the middle, channeling the exuberance of midcentury modern we associate with Palm Springs, California.
Sometimes the modest appearance of midcentury homes borders on dull and can appear monotonous with similar houses lined up on the same street. An addition is an opportunity to improve the curb appeal. Add some punch by bringing in new forms and materials.
In this Kensington, Maryland, addition and renovation, Balodemas Architects started with a modest brick house with a gable roof that is still visible on the left in this photo. They designed a family room addition and entry porch with a butterfly roof, in which the roof’s low point is in the middle, channeling the exuberance of midcentury modern we associate with Palm Springs, California.
The architect edited the exterior materials of the original home and carried them into the addition, achieving a beautiful coordination between the two. Some spice was added by replacing the painted wood siding on the original house with shiny corrugated metal.
There is great play of scale inside, where the original low and flat ceilings contrast with the soaring ceilings of the addition, visible in the background of this photo. To tie the interiors of the original home and addition together, the same materials palette of smooth plaster walls and hardwood floors carry throughout.
3. Make It a Focal Point
Make the most of a modest addition by placing it front and center to set the tone for the house. In this Bethesda, Maryland, addition, also by Balodemas Architects, a small family room juts from the front of the home and creates a welcoming lantern appearance, with generous windows facing the street.
Make the most of a modest addition by placing it front and center to set the tone for the house. In this Bethesda, Maryland, addition, also by Balodemas Architects, a small family room juts from the front of the home and creates a welcoming lantern appearance, with generous windows facing the street.
The room still has privacy despite the tall windows because the house is set high relative to the street. The addition has a low-slope shed roof with a dramatic overhang that is immediately recognizable as midcentury-inspired.
From the interior of the window-filled addition facing the street, foliage screens the view.
4. Blend In
Another remodeling approach is to make the addition and original house blend together like a seamless whole, in which it’s difficult to know where the original house ends and the addition begins. In this addition in Lake Sammamish, Washington, the original house, seen on the right in the photo, exhibits the classic midcentury modern design moves of a low slope roof, widely spaced exposed heavy timber rafters and vertical siding. The same materials are employed in the two-story garage and master bedroom addition, by Robert Hutchison Architecture, on the left.
Another remodeling approach is to make the addition and original house blend together like a seamless whole, in which it’s difficult to know where the original house ends and the addition begins. In this addition in Lake Sammamish, Washington, the original house, seen on the right in the photo, exhibits the classic midcentury modern design moves of a low slope roof, widely spaced exposed heavy timber rafters and vertical siding. The same materials are employed in the two-story garage and master bedroom addition, by Robert Hutchison Architecture, on the left.
The large windows on the lake side of the house take advantage of the view. This photo shows the existing building enclosure that was carefully restored.
The existing kitchen was replaced with an updated design that included horizontal grain cabinets, stone countertops and modern appliances.
5. Add an Identical Twin
This approach is slightly different from the previous example. Here, similar materials are also used in the new and older portions, but the addition is designed to be an exact match of the original.
In the addition to this Joseph Eichler home in San Mateo, California, Klopf Architecture very closely matched the style of the original home. The original house is on the left and the addition is on the right, making it challenging to distinguish new from old.
This approach is slightly different from the previous example. Here, similar materials are also used in the new and older portions, but the addition is designed to be an exact match of the original.
In the addition to this Joseph Eichler home in San Mateo, California, Klopf Architecture very closely matched the style of the original home. The original house is on the left and the addition is on the right, making it challenging to distinguish new from old.
This interior view of the new bedroom shows the exposed structural beams and roof decking that perfectly match the original Eichler design seen in the background outside the bedroom windows.
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In this midcentury modern home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Hammer Architects made a clear distinction between the original 1953 house designed by Henry Hebbeln and the addition they designed. Shown here is the living room of the original house, which features a soaring roofline and floor-to-ceiling glass. The interior and exterior finishes were restored.