Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: The Rebirth of an 18th-Century Connecticut Farmhouse
With original chestnut timbers and thoughtful design, a renovation propels a Colonial home into a new millennium
Scope of work: P H Architects built an almost 4,000-square-foot addition and redesigned the original home to function better.
A small parlor became a guest bedroom, while an unfinished attic space morphed into another bedroom. The redesign removed the original main staircase, which Paulos describes as “really tight and steep and non-kid-friendly,” and added a staircase in the new addition.
The original 1784 portion of the house is in the middle in these exterior photos; the 1990s addition with garage is to the left, and the new addition, which includes a great room and wet bar on the first floor and a master bedroom and bath upstairs, is on the right.
A small parlor became a guest bedroom, while an unfinished attic space morphed into another bedroom. The redesign removed the original main staircase, which Paulos describes as “really tight and steep and non-kid-friendly,” and added a staircase in the new addition.
The original 1784 portion of the house is in the middle in these exterior photos; the 1990s addition with garage is to the left, and the new addition, which includes a great room and wet bar on the first floor and a master bedroom and bath upstairs, is on the right.
Exterior: While much of the exterior changed, the architects “continued the rhythm” of the original home. New siding and fascia trim matched the old clapboard siding and trim to maintain the house’s character. A covered porch running along the front of the addition replaced a small wraparound porch on the original structure. “We were adding so much volume we wanted to ease the edges and soften the facade,” Paulos says. “A covered porch gave it a more human scale.”
A new pergola and trellis on the front of the original house also helped break up the long front facade. The bluestone used along the porch and terraces was previously part of several small patios around the original house.
Challenges: “We always ran into something,” Paulos says. Remodeling work on the original portion of the house involved removing plaster walls and wood floors — many original to the 1784 construction. “We found corn cobs and horse hair for insulation inside the walls,” he says.
The wood flooring was saved and reused. And all new construction followed the same post-and-beam process involved in the original house. New electrical wiring and HVAC work brought the basics up to date.
The wood flooring was saved and reused. And all new construction followed the same post-and-beam process involved in the original house. New electrical wiring and HVAC work brought the basics up to date.
Kitchen: A whitewashed pine ceiling and Douglas fir beams maintain a simple Colonial feel in the renovated kitchen. The architects reused the original chestnut board flooring (some pieces were 19 inches wide) and applied a clear finish.
The countertops are Calacatta marble. A butcher block built into the island (with a trash receptacle below) makes it easy to chop vegetables and scrape scraps into the trash.
Sink and range hood: German Silver
The countertops are Calacatta marble. A butcher block built into the island (with a trash receptacle below) makes it easy to chop vegetables and scrape scraps into the trash.
Sink and range hood: German Silver
Breakfast area: A breakfast area opposite the kitchen island provides plenty of seating for meals. A new opening in the wall at the back offers a view into the new great room. The fireplace is the original 1784 fireplace. The beams on either side are chestnut. The ceiling beams are Douglas fir.
Great room: A great room in the new addition mirrors the post-and-beam style of the original house. Bench seating around the fireplace is made of reused chestnut boards found in the attic and other areas of the old house. The structural beams are Douglas fir, designed to match the beams in the 1990s addition and the kitchen.
Dining room: The post and beam in front of the 18th-century brick fireplace once had some kind of swinging gates attached to cover the fireplace. The hinges are still visible on the beams. The new design left all that intact but bumped out the dining room (where the bay window is) by about 4 feet to create extra space for a long dining table.
Master bedroom: The soapstone fireplace uses the same chimney that originates in the new great room directly below the master bedroom. Douglas fir beams and chestnut flooring continue the scheme from the first floor of the home. All the beams in the master bedroom are structural, pieced together with mortise-and-tenon joinery and wooden pegs.
Timber framing: New Energy Works
Timber framing: New Energy Works
Master bath: The vanities are custom-made of chestnut, reclaimed from elsewhere in the house during the renovation process. The countertops are Quartzite and the flooring is cross-cut travertine.
Kids’ bath: A chestnut beam found elsewhere in the house is now part of the vanity in the kids’ bathroom. The front of the vanity is a full-size beam, and the top of the vanity continues with chestnut boards to match. The ceiling beams are original to the house.
More
The Ancient Secrets of Colonial Revival Style
Origins and Meaning of Colonial Revival Trim
Read about more homes of every style
More
The Ancient Secrets of Colonial Revival Style
Origins and Meaning of Colonial Revival Trim
Read about more homes of every style
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A family with four young children
Location: Newtown, Connecticut
Size: Six bedrooms, 5½ bathrooms
Architects: Peter Paulos Jr. and Philip H. Hubbard III of P H Architects
The backstory: This house was unusual even for a town as old and historic as Newtown (founded in 1705). Built in 1784 by the Fairchilds, one of the founding families of Newtown, the house had only four previous owners before architect Peter Paulos Jr.’s clients purchased it and came to him for renovation help.
Previous owners had completed an addition (with a garage and great room) and a kitchen renovation in the late 1990s, but much of the original 18th-century structure of the house was intact, including plaster walls, chestnut timber framing and a foundation of fieldstone rock. “It was a challenge,” Paulos says.