The owners had bought this house a few years ago and had done a great job of updating the inside of the house. Now it is time to work on the exterior of the house. Regardless of any alterations, the house was going to need a new roof, new stucco, and door and window replacements. Another issue was the extreme heat in the afternoon through the windows on the front (western) elevation of the house. For years, awnings had been placed over the windows to cut down on the direct glare.
The clients love to entertain so improving the house’s connection to the outside and creating better flow around the property are key. A small back yard which accommodates a garage at an odd angle and small raised patios creates a difficult place to put dining tables. An obvious issue is although this is a corner lot, there is no direct way to go from the front yard to the back yard without using the sidewalk. The walled front porch was also small and rarely used.
Aesthetically the client wants the home to feel more “cottagey” with a strong pull towards a Cotswolds look.
It is a cute little house on a great street of cute little houses. There are some issues with the house when it comes to curb appeal though. That the window on the far left of the front elevation is off-center is really unappealing. I know that this was done to accommodate a closet, but certainly something taller and centered would allow the same amount of light and created a more pleasing facade.
It is a similar issue with the front door. Crammed into the corner in a small alcove, the front door is not an inviting feature. By moving it over twelve to sixteen inches, making the living room window slightly smaller creates a much more inviting front entry with minimal impact on the interiors.
Knowing the clients interest in the Cotswolds we looked for precedent images from this area of the world. I have also had a long fascination with Blaise Hamlet, a small cluster of cottages in Bristol England that were made over two hundred years ago. I have been enamored with the overhanging roofs - with their white benches underneath - which give the homes such a secure feeling. I am recommending this element over the front living room windows. This overhang acts as a substitute for the awnings. Lowering the roof line means lowering horizontal lines across the front of the house which makes the entire structure feel closer to the ground. Paired with trees (see the first sketch) the house would now feel part of the landscape instead of on top of it.
Knowing that we are looking at re-plastering the house, we know there is an opportunity to re-size and move the windows and doors on the front of the house and decided to take advantage of this. The client really wanted a half round door. We settled for an ellipse shaped door with matching overhang. This strong geometry - along with moving it away from the corner of the building – makes the entry much more pronounced and inviting. With this we also need to move the living room windows next to the door, making them slightly smaller and using casement windows with a center fixed window similar to what you would find in an old cottage.
The new bedroom window on the left of the front elevation is directly related to a standard Cotswolds gable window with a decorative header.
Changing the size of the chimney really helps change the scale of the rest of the house. By thickening its walls and adding decorative chimney pots the chimney helps balance the other elements of the house creating a cohesive aesthetic.
By flaring the roof at the ends of the gable we are able to break up the strong geometry of the roof lines and make the house feel a little lighter.
The critical part of the landscape is to create something that works for entertaining and to help the house feel secure and sheltered. Solution number one is to create access to the back yard by connecting the front patio to the side yard of the house and securing the space behind privacy hedge. After that, medium size trees are placed on either side of the front path to reinforce the importance of the front door while creating later afternoon shade for west facing windows. More trees are placed along the south side of the property to also create some shade.
Landscaping plants will be drought tolerant plants that look the part of a more English style garden. The clients love of greenery makes this pretty easy to do.
With the completion of the schematic design phase, we are working with the contractors and suppliers to get some rough numbers before we move on to the permit and construction drawings.