A Connected Conservatory

Too often adding square footage to a home for casual living or as a transition between more established parts of the home has been an inelegant undertaking. It’s as though the informal nature of the space unintentionally is mirrored in the design and construction process, sometimes with second-rate results.

A remodeling project done by a previous owner of an early 1900s Georgian Colonial home in Belle Meade, Tenn., suffered just such a fate.

“During the past century, several families have owned the home and have made additions or modifications. The fingerprints of the various families did not interfere with the classical architecture that the house embodies — with the exception of a glass conservatory, or Florida room, that connected the main house to the library at the rear. The cheap addition cut off the language of the great architecture the home was built upon,” says Craig Huseby of Huseby Homes in Nashville, Tenn.

It was Huseby’s task to implement the plans of architect Eric Stengel, of Eric Stengel Architecture LLC in Nashville and replace the addition with a larger, better functioning room. The project was the gold award winner in Qualified Remodeler’s conservatory/sunroom category in the 2009 Master Design Awards.

“This was a new purchase, and they had some things they wanted to work out of the house and make it function for their family,” Huseby says. Upgrades were also done in the master bedroom, library and kitchen.

The new octagon-shaped conservatory, however, is the focal point. It provides a connection between the kitchen and the library, itself an addition constructed at some point in the home’s history. The clerestory affords ample daylight from above without the disadvantages of the glass roof of the room that it replaces.

Just as important, the conservatory creates an informal living space that can be used year-round. The Georgian Colonial, typical of its era, incorporates a formal living room and dining room at the front of the house but lacks the sort of family room found in many newer homes. The new conservatory is located a few steps down from the kitchen, a central gathering place for many present-day families, and has become one of the owners’ favorite rooms in which to relax, Huseby relates, serving much the function of a contemporary family room.

The existing “Florida room” dated to the 1970s and had been added to an existing patio. The original intent was to enclose the patio to provide extra living space and to provide access to a paneled library.

Popular but Flawed

A popular 1970s concept, the Florida room had a number of flaws in general and particularly in its execution at the Belle Meade home. First, the room faced south and had a glass ceiling. “The room would alternate between punishing heat and frigid cold,” says Stengel.

“In terms of ‘greenness,’ it was one of the worst performing rooms ever seen. The HVAC ran in overdrive at all times trying to compete with the climate’s four seasons,” he added.

The room leaked water at the ground level sill and at the roof flashing against the brick wall of the garage — which formed the room’s rear wall. It was too narrow to properly furnish and too wide to be just a hall or passage to the library.

Worse, “the modernity of the smoked and curved glass and extruded aluminum robbed the home of charm,” says Stengel. “The room did nothing for the simple expression of the home’s classical language architecture. At best it was a jarring visual mixture, and at worst, a huge energy drain on the home.”

Removing the Florida room was complicated by the tight location at the rear of the main house between a detached garage and a small courtyard area adjacent to the property line, which is defined by a brick wall. There was no room for even a mini-excavator, Huseby recounts, and work had to be done carefully by hand. Making that work somewhat easier was the construction of a ramp that allowed workers to travel less than 20 ft. to the back of a dump truck rather than cart the demolition debris around the rear of the house.