Northshore Home magazine highlights the best in architectural design, new construction and renovations, interiors, and landscape design.
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94 Creating more modern, open-concept living spaces within the bones of the original structure was possible but maintaining its historic fabric was more important. "It just made more sense to group them inside a new wing," explains Powell of the second-phase addition, which stretches off the back of the house toward the lake. It begins with a great room—where the kitchen and family room nest together—and ends with a sunny breakfast room. It took the place of an original three- season porch. Overhead, the architects imparted a new-old feel to the addition by reproducing Smith's exposed beam/joist system encountered in the original house. "What you're seeing is not the actual structure, but it reflects the spacing and location of the structure hidden within the ceiling," details Powell. "The larger decorative beams actually wrap the heavy steel frame supporting the cathedral ceiling." To ensure a seamless transition from old to new, the architects carefully replicated the original home's cas- tellation details on the addition. In true Jacobean style, they alternated a flat roof with parapets over the great room with a pitched roof of slate over the breakfast room. Other mirrored details include a diamond pattern of dark bricks on the new gable end, quoining on the corners, and limestone lintels above the windows. Interior designer Rhonda Everts wove vibrant blues and greens throughout the new addition, indulging the clients' love of color and pattern. The kitchen island's high-gloss blue finish pops against the white cabinets and ceiling. A marine finish protects the island's luxuri- ous three-inch-thick walnut countertop, while three skylights above bring soft, natural light into the space. Adding on created more family-friendly destinations but also reacquainted the home with its partnering lake. An extreme slope down to the lakeshore prevented proper sightlines from the original house, which is set near the road, 70 feet from the start of the slope. Now, the addition's outer wall is just 20 feet from the slope and its rooms all enjoy lake views. Off the breakfast room is an updated outdoor dining terrace; its new per- gola replaced an original one that was in disrepair. For the architects, measuring and replicating the historic brick architecture was easy; achieving the right brick and mortar color was the greater challenge. "We used Massachusetts-based Stiles and Hart, a major manufacturer that supplies Harvard, Boston University, Boston College, etc., with brick. Blending just the right red to match the original house was a process," says Gleysteen. "In comparison, we were able to source the slate we needed from the same Vermont quarry that was operating 120 years ago." While the formal living room and front entry were preserved, other parts of the first floor were rearranged