Homeowners Peter Field and Kay Bhothinard knew from the start that their 1930s Colonial Revival house was a terrific find—but one that would need work. Situated on one of their favorite streets in Ridgewood, NJ, near Peter’s daughter’s school, the house offered good bones, 1,700 square feet of living space, and a large backyard. “This location is ideal,” says Peter. Adds Kay: “The lovely backyard is deeper than most, and that’s what we fell for.”
However, the house had issues: a cramped kitchen with tired cabinets and old appliances; outdated plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems; only one full bath; no dedicated guest room; and an awkward floor plan with no flow from living room to dining room to kitchen, making entertaining difficult. Even though the house had the symmetrical façade, center entry, and shingled exterior typical of one of the most loved American residential house styles—Colonial Revival—the couple felt the exterior could use a fresh look.
After living in the house for five years, Peter and Kay turned to architect Jeff Jordan and builder Zack Dettmore to fix these problems. The renovation is being documented as part of This Old House’s 46th television season.
The couple has two big goals for the renovation. First: “We really want to expand the views of the outdoors, so that the backyard is the focal point for just about every room,” says Peter. Second: “The biggest thing for me is the kitchen, where everything seemed dark and tight,” says Kay. “We want a more hospitable layout, but not necessarily an open plan.”
Addressing those goals, architect Jeff Jordan’s design honors the old while bringing in the new: “In front, we are keeping the size and scale intact, but in the rear, we have large windows creating a modern aesthetic while taking advantage of the southern exposure and views to the backyard,” says Jeff.
The design’s key feature is a two-story, 500-square-foot rear addition containing a kitchen on the first floor and primary bedroom on the second floor, with five-foot-high wraparound windows facing the yard on both floors. Jeff’s plan also tweaks the existing house’s layout to create a new hallway from dining room to kitchen, with a full bath and pantry along the corridor. The plan leaves the three existing second-floor bedrooms relatively untouched, while using some of the addition’s square footage to expand the existing second-floor full bath.
To create the updated aesthetic Peter and Kay want, Jeff specified new casement windows for the entire house—the hinged window style lends a more modern look than the existing double-hung models. The casement windows’ dark trim will coordinate with gray fiber cement clapboards on the main house, and fiber cement shake siding on the addition; new side and rear entries will be defined by accent walls of natural-look composite oak.
“What I love about this project is that the house is getting just enough modern flair on the front from the casement windows to make you notice something has changed, but it will still sit well on the street as a Colonial Revival,” says TOH host Kevin O’Connor.
For builder Zack Dettmore, the big window upgrade requires special attention. The kitchen and primary bedroom each feature four 5-foot-high windows, two of which meet at the corner of the addition to create a wraparound effect with maximum outdoor views. “The rear addition has so much glass it takes away from the racking resistance of the building,” explains Zack. Commonly caused by wind forces, racking can literally make a house tilt out of plumb. Exterior sheathing typically provides rack resistance but because of the large cutouts for the windows, additional structural hardware and plywood shear walls are needed. “We installed metal hold downs on top of the addition’s anchor bolts, and we built 4-inch-wide plywood shear walls to meet the code specified by the engineer,” says Zack.
Zack determined that reusing the existing window openings was problematic, so adding the new casement windows on the old house led to additional work. “Originally we were going to keep the window openings the same size, but we realized that for airtightness, there was no way to work around the existing window openings,” says Zack, who altered the openings. “We packed in framing material so we could do it the right way.”
Once the framing of the new addition was completed, Peter and Kay could begin to appreciate the transformation: “When we first walked through the framed addition, it was wonderful to feel the use of space come alive, after so long of just trying to envision through drawings and renderings,” says Peter. “Walking through the space, we knew that the addition would feel like a part of the property overall and not just a new part of the house, and that Jeff’s ideas of transitioning from the old to the new flowed as smoothly as we had all hoped.”
Adding a weather-resistant barrier (WRB) is another important step to creating a weathertight building envelope, and for this process, TOH general contractor Tom Silva worked alongside Zack. After the original house’s wood shingles were removed and the sheathing exposed, Tom and Zack got to work adding self-adhering house wrap. “We’ve come a long way since the days of 30-pound felt paper,” says Tom. “The self-adhering membrane not only keeps the house airtight and weathertight, but it also stops any fluttering effect when the wind blows.” For the addition, Zack applied oriented strand board (OSB) with an impregnated barrier as the WRB, a time-saving choice because it is sheathing and house wrap in one. Throughout both old and new areas, Zack is adding wood-fiber insulation, either blown-in or batt.
For Peter and Kay, another big issue the renovation is addressing is the failing mechanical systems throughout the house. After their furnace suffered a “catastrophic failure,” they lived without heat for five months right before the renovation started. The new HVAC system will be a natural gas combi-boiler generating domestic hot water plus heat and air conditioning, the latter delivered via high-velocity mini ducts. “It’s always a challenge to find space for mechanicals in a small old house,” says TOH plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey. “This high-velocity delivery system will have as little impact on the existing house as possible.”
Understanding how important the deep backyard was for Peter and Kay, TOH landscape contractor Jenn Nawada focused her renovation on creating areas for better enjoyment outdoors. For example, where the addition meets the existing house, an L is formed, perfect for a patio.
Jenn took a particular interest when Zack poured the addition’s 16’ x 14’ slab-on-grade foundation, knowing the impact on the property’s drainage. “When you add an addition to an existing house, you’re taking away the permeable area for rain or melting snow to be absorbed into the ground,” says Jenn. Many towns, including Ridgewood, are requiring a runoff mitigation plan from homeowners who are lessening their property’s permeable areas. “Not every town requires stormwater management, but it is getting more common here in New Jersey, which once had lots of wetlands,” says Zack. “Ridgewood is doing the right thing by requiring a plan, so runoff doesn’t end up in the street or overwhelming town systems.” The stormwater management system Zack installed after the slab was poured includes capturing rainwater at several points around the slab’s perimeter and leading the runoff through underground perforated pipes into a seepage pit.
With the new space and upgrades, Peter and Kay are also committed to keeping original details throughout the house. They removed an original stained-glass window from the dining room and stored it away for safekeeping during the renovation and are deciding how to reuse it. Most of the house’s original oak flooring is being preserved as is the living room’s fireplace. “We like the idea of honoring the original house,” says Kay, “and we also can’t wait to cook and entertain in the new spaces at the back.”Adds Peter: “We love knowing there will be an increased view of the backyard with more green, more natural light, more celebrating the yard as the focal point of the house. It’s will all flow as one visual space.”