East Coast Collaboration

Not all tear-down projects begin as tear-downs. Take for example the creation of this home in Milford, Conn., which began with intentions of retaining a sensible amount of the existing home’s charm and structure. As the clients, architect and builder began planning the renovation, many of their conversations ended with comments such as, “You might as well build a new wall.”

“Let’s give ourselves credit. Our intent was to reuse materials and make the home better because we’re all responsible and no one wanted to throw something aside for the sake of building new,” says Frank Ryan Jr., AIA, managing principal, The Golden Mean Group in Westport, Conn. “Over the course of the design process, we wanted to modify the shell of the buildings and move some walls around. Ultimately we decided to tear it down and create something that harkens back to the original building.”

The modern take on a Victorian reflects traditional styling such as gables, turrets and big porches. Effort was made to avoid “… slapping things on a building because someone thinks it should go there,” Ryan says. “As complex as the front façade is, it is calculated in terms of the relationship between forms and the overall composition, and to other forms both vertically and horizontally. We spent plenty of time on the front and rear façades to ensure they present themselves in an aesthetically logical fashion.”

Outdoor spaces on each level provide views of the ocean, including a widow’s walk on the roof. Ryan has designed many rooftop accommodations for people to look out at the sea. “It’s an important part of what people do on the Connecticut coast. On this house we have a chimney which created another design moment. We sculpted the upper extremity of the chimney to give it some anthropomorphic qualities,” Ryan says.

Providing access to the widow’s walk was a challenge, says Jeff Hallquist, owner, Jeff Hallquist Builder in Monroe, Conn. “There was quite some work involved with getting access up there. From the house to the attic, we had to make it weather-tight. We came up with a stainless steel hatch that opens like a coffin and has an R10 value [top photo pg. 12]. There’s a double-insulated gasket around an R15 lid. Telescopic stairs come out of that opening,” Hallquist says.

Another outdoor element is the deck that extends from the yoga room on the second floor. Two 6-ft. sliders open the 14- by 20-ft. yoga room to the outdoors. With so many elements on the front exterior, it was critical to keep it all maintenance-free per the owners’ wishes. The only natural material on the front of the house is the mahogany door, Hallquist says.

A striking part of the front exterior is the turret which appears to end prematurely with a flat top. “The reason the turret top is flat is we were reaching the maximum height limit,” Hallquist explains. “We used that weather vane on top as a spire to help complete the lines of the turret. That spire is 6-ft. 2-in. tall and is solid copper.”

The turret is framed with 28-ft. engineered timbers that enclose a spiral staircase which extends from the basement to the top floor. Once the floors were completed a template was made and the stringer was fabricated along with the treads and risers, Hallquist explains. Everything was assembled on-site.

The staircase is a design element that moves within the volume of the turret, Ryan says. “As the stairs move past each window ,you can see your advancement as you go floor to floor. One inclination was to stick the staircase in the corner or the side of the house, and every time we did that it asked for more attention. At the end we married the turret with the stairway which gave it a lot of attention and a good result,” Ryan says.

Planning for the future, a recessed pit will accommodate an elevator with access to each floor of the home. Electrical for the elevator is already in place.

Codes Rule