House Stalking: Sherman Avenue

I drove through this neighborhood the other day and was curious about this renovation. A quick google search led me to Brach Design (isn't the internet great?) This tiny dilapidated house sat on a 25 foot wide lot in an up-and-coming district (though you would never be able to tell that from the before pics of this house). The size of the lot required that the design be approved by the neighbors and the city Planning Division. Brach Design was able to devise a plan that restored the original structure and its relationship to the street, while adding space above and below ground to achieve 2,200 square feet of clean modern spaces flooded with natural light.

Before

During: The front structure of the house remains intact while footings are poured for the two story expansion.

After: I love that they kept the same lines of the old porch roof and updated it with the metal pergola. The slate porch ties in nicely with the new landscaping. 

After: View of the back of the house. A juliet balcony extends from the new master bedroom.  

Inside: Because the lot is narrow, so too is the house. This layout is very similar to a New Orleans shotgun style house with all the rooms lining up from front to back. Although the use of different flooring does set the living room area apart from the hallway, I would have kept the floors all the same material to allow the eye to flow more from the living room to the back of the house.  

The streamlined kitchen sits at the back of the home with a sliding glass door that leads to the back garden.

Small scale glass tile visually expands the space and a european style glass enclosure keeps this small bath looking fresh, clean, light, and airy. Lesson to learn: keeping the vanity low with the sink placed on top doesn't take up as much visual space as having a higher vanity with an inset sink. Something to think about if you are working within a small footprint such as this.