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Wellesley Dream HomeLoading...
   The house is a Georgian Colonial with a brick exterior, prominently located on a corner lot. The exterior was stately and the interior had similar qualities, but its renovation and upgrades were long overdue.Most walls were covered with peeling wallpaper; the pipes and wiring inside the walls was old and worn out. The hardwood floors squeaked badly, with wide gaps between boards. The ceilings were all eight foot or less. The living room was of a good size, but the dining room was tight and the kitchen was small with no room for any kind of sitting space. There was a family room addition off the dining room, but it too was small and it had no relationship to the exterior of the original home. The original sunroom had been converted into a bedroom and bath for the previous, elderly owners. On the second floor, there were two bedrooms, a nursery, a bath, and a master bedroom with a very small bath and closet. There was an attic floor with two bedrooms and another small, out-of-date bath. The basement had too low a ceiling to be converted into a living space. The new owners were excited to remain in the same neighborhood in which they had been living for several years. The house had great potential — it was larger than their previous home and sat on a spacious lot that could accommodate backyard activities. We kept the existing brick house as the formal core of the new house; we designed the new family room, a bigger kitchen, and a large, family-size informal entry to flow around this original main core. We kept the living room the same size, but made it feel more spacious by opening up the views to the old sunroom with two pairs of French doors that framed the new fireplace mantle and led into the new library. We installed new windows and cherry bookshelves and window seats in the library to further enhance the view from the living room. The dining room was expanded toward the old kitchen to be able to accommodate dinner parties. The remaining portion of the original kitchen became a new butler's pantry with a state of the art wine cooler, under-cabinet refrigerator, and a wet bar. The new informal spaces were all new construction-additions with high ceilings to allow more light and a more open, contemporary feel. The kitchen includes a large custom-built island in addition to the breakfast area; the island can easily accommodate the couple's three children and allow plenty of space for both adults to cook and interact as a family. The informal entry is located off the side of the house near the detached garage. It was designed to include the mudroom functions requested by the owners, but it is much more than a mudroom. This is the entrance to the home most used by the family and their friends. It has a high ceiling, pendant light fixtures, a custom built-in bench, and a gracious stairway leading down to the now finished basement. Coats, shoes, and backpacks are now tucked into new walk-in cubby area hidden behind pairs of closet doors. The second floor was not large enough to accommodate a master bedroom suite and two bedrooms, so a new master bedroom was built out over the kitchen addition. A portion of the old master bedroom became the new master bath with its custom-built cabinets, double vanity area, large soaking tub, and separate shower area. The original nursery was transformed into a study with desks, custom file cabinets, and pullout keyboard trays. The study is situated between the two bedrooms and serves as the passageway to the new bedroom. Locating the children's desks in the open space freed up space in the bedrooms for a play area and keeps the computers in an open area where the parents can help all the children with homework as well as monitor Internet access. The attic floor had two bedrooms that were renovated to include built-in window seats and dressers. A new bedroom with additional built-in bookshelves, a window seat, and a new bath was built in the attic space above the master bedroom addition. The original basement had too low a ceiling to make it into a livable space, but the new finished basement area, with 9' ceilings, was built beneath the informal entry, kitchen, breakfast room and family room. The area features an additional half bath, hardwood flooring, ample closet space; it serves as an open play space for the family's children and neighborhood friends. A smaller room off the main area is now a large exercise room with rubber mat flooring that features built-in cabinets for storage, a large television, and exercise equipment, all without feeling cramped or disorganized. |
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