Northshore Home magazine highlights the best in architectural design, new construction and renovations, interiors, and landscape design.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1206063
50 Once the floor plan was laid out, they had to address the structural issues of an agricultural space that was over a century old and being repurposed as a home. At the starting point, the carriage house had a dirt floor in the basement, a hatchway originally used for shovel- ing manure down into that space, horse stalls on one side of the first floor and space for carriages on the other side, and the groom's apartment on the second floor. Although the designers were blessed with a stone foundation, they brought in a structural engineer who recommended adding heavy beams to better support the second floor. The basement was given a concrete floor and could now easily serve as a wine cellar. Then the fun part of the renovation began. To create the simple, light-filled space that is their signature style, McInnes and Erickson went with an open floor plan on the first floor, enclosing only a "mudroom" closet in the entryway and the stairways. "The space was originally dark," says McInnes. "The wood of the stalls was rich, but it was gloomy." Their solution was to clean and oil the beadboard from the stalls and use it to enclose the elements on ei- ther side of the front door. "It gave texture to the walls," says Erickson. "We can't resist texture." Then they painted the rest of the walls a luminous white and added double windows to let the sunshine in. "We used a Benjamin Moore AquaPearl finish, which really bounces the light around," McInnes recalls. For a smart, modern flair, each window is etched in a black pencil line. "It punches the room up a notch," McInnes added. To keep the front foyer luminous, the front door is surrounded by transom windows. This team savors the details. Corbels recycled from another project support the quartz island counter in the kitchen. "We joke that I dive into the dumpster to retrieve components that contractors are ditching to salvage for projects," says Erickson of their "waste not" policy. New elements are sympathetic with the building's past, such as the stall hardware–inspired railings custom made for the upstairs stairwells. Lighting is liberally installed; three oversized pendant lights illuminate the lengthy 10-foot kitchen eating island, and artistic mobile-like chandeliers offset the tall ceilings on the first floor. "So much creative lighting is available at reasonable prices nowadays," McInnes notes. "We use lighting like jewelry in a home." The result was an irresistible renovation that sold in a flash. In its setting of tall, slender, silver-barked locust trees, the home is remarkable in all seasons. But most importantly, the repurposed carriage house has legs. "This building is going to survive into the next century and beyond," McInnes proudly says. One more carriage house gets its fairytale ending. mariemcinnes.com The duo kept beautiful historical features such as this massive barn door. The master bath features built-in cabinetry and marble tile. A faux throw dresses the bed.