Fast Track, Narrow Lot

Making small seem big

Because the home is on a corner with three visible faces, no portion of the house could be neglected in ornamentation or quality. The exterior walls, both of the home and as a part of the landscaping, create the feeling of privacy and make the house appear more manageable for the lot.

“The landscaping walls keep the home from looking like it is rising out of nowhere or leaping out of the lot,” Tringali says. He explains that a city ordinance, launched shortly before the project began, included height, lot coverage and setback restrictions, and dictated the height and placement of the home. Because of this, the garage is built under the house to save space on both the lot and interior of the home. The mudroom and copious amounts of storage also make this section of the home useful and livable. It leads up to the heart of the upstairs, connecting it to often-used areas.

While the landscaping walls help situate the home on the lot, they constitute an award-winning feature of the project. Made of two-toned commercial brick, the vertical portions of the walls feature horizontally raked joints, while the horizontally laid brick features vertically raked joints, adding Old-World charm. Tringali describes them as having a Frank Lloyd Wright feel that is in line with the home’s contemporary style rooted in traditional elements. This is carried throughout the home, with features such as unique wood, bold colors and French doors with opaque glass inlay, which is Derocher’s favorite aspect of the home.

“The Rocky Mountain Hardware on glass and wood merges old with new, which is what really creates warmth throughout the home,” he explains. While it is a new home, these features help it blend into the surrounding older and established homes of the neighborhood. While the architect and builder expedited decisions by knowing what they wanted, many items had to be special ordered. The home features five different kinds of doors, one-touch lighting controls, a state-of-the-art theater, Gladiator storage system, and custom trim and millwork, all of which took careful coordination of contractors to keep the project on track.

Tringali attributes this coordination and execution to plain old hard work. “Doug (Derocher’s) manpower was taken to the limits,” he says. “Whenever a problem came up, he would say, ‘This didn’t work, but I can do these three things.’ Or, we would brainstorm on the spot. We just kept moving forward and solving problems.”