This classic 1970s blossom is in a great area on 2 beautiful acres, but its design was not suited to modern household. A neighborhood family bought it because they loved the lawn, the region and the schools, but they knew it would need an upgrade to work for them.
“The family wanted to open the distance, give it a really nice flow, let in more natural lighting and enlarge the views of the garden,” says architect Catherine Knight of Knight Architects. She reacted with a thorough makeover, creating a family-friendly entry and mudroom, an open-plan design along the rear of the home that opens up to their magnificent backyard, a reconfigured guest space and first-floor bathroom, plus a remodeled master bath.
in a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their young daughter and boy
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Size: 5 bedrooms,4 bathrooms
Year built: The 1970s; remodeling plans started in 2010
Knight Architects LLC
Knight added a new mudroom side entry and porch in addition to a new bluestone sidewalk which ties in with the remainder of the front lawn. She also replaced the front door. Overgrown shrubs were replaced by New plantings.
Before Photo
BEFORE: The home was originally designed by prolific local architect William Thompson. It still had a great deal of charm but has been prepared for an upgrade.
Knight Architects LLC
AFTER: Columns and sidelights give the entry a classic existence; the porch roof provides protection once the owners are looking for keys in the rain. The French door and sidelights let in natural lighting.
Knight Architects LLC
Knight replaced the breakfast area with a mudroom designed to stand up to some young family and East Coast weather. “This California Gold slate vinyl, using its browns, grays and golds, is your best tile in the world for hiding dirt in a mudroom,” she says.
Constructed cubbies, baskets and hooks give everyone space to store coats, shoes, hats, gloves and sports equipment. “When designing the floor cubbies with drawers for many clients, my contractor Eric Franzoni explained following my part of the job was completed, many people were carrying out the drawers to leave them open for kicking or grabbing their shoes,” she says. She’s since switched to cubbies over drawers in her mudroom layouts.
The wife requested a mudroom desk as a landing strip for mail and paperwork. The counter is cherry with a stain. A charging station overhead hides cords and provides space for juicing up telephones and other digital accessories. The hardworking area has openings to the garage, the main home plus a walk-in cupboard.
Before Photo
BEFORE: The long, narrow living area didn’t have access to the garden patio, pool and large entertainment space. The kitchen outside it was shut off.
Knight Architects LLC
AFTER: Knight designed this dining area in a small new addition to serve as a breakfast area (the columns mark where the outside wall with the huge window is in the prior image.) But, it did not take long for your family to turn it into their just formal dining area. “They realized they liked to collect for many events while the children hung out in the family room,” she says. They turned the planned formal dining area, on the other side of the media wall, to a quiet living area.
“The couple understood when the TV was on, they had a separate area on the first floor where they could escape,” she says. “Small-space specialist Sarah Susanka says that you need a quiet area on a first floor with an open program, and she is perfect.” Knight finds that many clients are choosing for libraries in lieu of traditional formal dining rooms nowadays.
Knight Architects LLC
One of the main goals was producing an open space where their children could have their friends over and hang outside. Knight opened the former living space to the kitchen and a new breakfast area, which you see part of in the foreground. The TV sits in the center of habit media cabinets and bookshelves.
Knight Architects LLC
The living room fireplace has been existing, but local cabinetmaker Ken Urion of Diamond Woodworkers made a gorgeous new mantel for it.
Knight Architects LLC
The new dining addition includes the area from the French doors to the columns, so far as the new slanted roofline. 3 sets of French doors with transoms and skylights open the back of the home to the lawn and let in the light.
French doors, transoms: Marvin
Before Photo
BEFORE: The kitchen has been shut off from the remainder of the home. Behind the corner near the pub here, Knight reconfigured a “rat’s maze” of a laundry room, guest bathroom, guest room and hallway to accommodate a bar complete with a bar microwave and refrigerator drawer. She relocated the laundry area upstairs for convenience.
Knight Architects LLC
AFTER: From the newly renovated kitchen, the double doors to the left open to a vestibule, which opens to a reconfigured complete guest bath.
An 11-foot-long island with a granite counter tops the entire family. It has room for homework and dining on one side, and space for food preparation, a sink and a dishwasher on the other. 2 sets of double doors fortify symmetry. The set on the right leads to a cabinet.
Counters: Absolute Black granite with leather end
Knight Architects LLC
The reconfigured first-floor bathroom serves two chambers; the double doors in the kitchen open to a vestibule which lead to it one way, while the guest room has its own accessibility. When guests are staying here, the family can shut it off in the kitchen and use the upstairs bathrooms to present their guests full monopoly.
AFTER: Out back the small inclusion’s new French doors open to a new patio that leads to the pool and patio. The family can enjoy the view of the lawn in addition to plenty of easy access to it.
Before Photo
BEFORE: The master bathroom had been inserted in a previous renovation. “This distance is over the garage, and the owners needed a ladder using a heater in addition to it set in the garage to keep the pipes from freezing in the winter,” Knight says.
Knight Architects LLC
AFTER: as well as fixing the more serious issues, she redesigned the whole bathroom, including elegant granite countertops and cherry cabinets.
Knight Architects LLC
A new skylight and a round window let in the light. On the outside, a peaked garage roof pitch hogs up most of the wall to the right; a round window is a lovely solution to this challenge. While it doesn’t allow for any venting, the operable skylight does.
The family has settled to the new design effortlessly; the careful planning has paid off, and they take pleasure in the way the home functions for the way they live.
