9/18/13

Talk about a turnaround...



Here's a cool project we're working on in Barton Hills.  The existing house has an attached garage in the back with a massive concrete turnaround area that eats up all of the best parts of the amazing lot.  It's pretty awful:

Ewwwwwww!
Our clients wanted a new kitchen and an upstairs master bedroom, and as we started sketching that out, we proposed a radical change for them: Could we take away your garage so you could have a back yard?  They love their garage, but gave it up in an instant when they saw how amazing it would be to create a place for people, not cars, in the back.

They'll have a new bedroom up in the treetops.

And here's a really early look at the new master bath...

The former two-car garage will become a family room with a big utility room in the back.

While the kitchen gets enlarged and updated (with a touch of the mid-sixties vibe of the original house)

The stairwell will fill the family room with light and features an "away" spot for reading or cat-napping.

And a screened porch provides a great transition from the kitchen/dining to the "new" back yard.

All of this came from re-thinking the way that cars interact with this home.  Today, the vehicles are the most important things on the property, but soon people will be what it's all about.