Prize Pool House

by Jon Minnick
Created:

An Architect Re-creates a Shack into a Pool House Worthy of its Estate


Rice relied on the Internet and a local lumberyard known for its wood shop for products. He priced custom items, like doors, with the lumberyard and then went online to track down hardware and other accessories. For instance, the pool house features sliding barn doors on the front and back to open the space to the outdoors. The doors were custom fabricated through the local lumberyard; hardware to support the heavy barn doors was purchased online.

In addition, the remodeling team relied on local businesses to assist in achieving the farmhouse aesthetic. For example, West Grove, Pa.-based Hugh Lofting Timber Framing Inc. fabricated and joined the trusses in the great room, and a local interior designer picked out tile materials. “Collaborating was really about trying to get some more period details one would find in an outbuilding of the late 19th, early 20th centuries,” Rice notes.

Rice also located a quarry that could closely match a thin veneer stone to the farmhouse’s exterior fieldstone while being cost-effective. In addition, he specified budget-friendly siding for the two sides of the pool house that face the woods.

Gentleman Worthy

Keeping with the Pennsylvania Dutch style, Gardner/Fox Associates has transformed the pool house into an outbuilding worthy of a gentleman farmer’s estate. “The clients have been tremendously excited by the whole process and have been very involved,” Rice adds. “They spent a lot of time asking questions and watching their pool house come together. We’ve created a space the whole family can enjoy.”

Fast Facts

  • Architect & remodeling firm: Gardner/Fox Associates Inc., Bryn Mawr, Pa.,
    www.gardnerfox.com
  • Location: Malvern, Pa.
  • Before: 458 square feet
  • After: 692 square feet

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