Carriage House Transformation
A carriage house built in 1885, originally built to house horses, hay and carriage. Over more than a century, the building changed hands many times, and slowly decayed due to poor site drainage, termites, field stone foundation issues etc. The building was purchased on it's own lot, and transformed into a single family house. The design of the renovation/addition seeks to allow the process of restoration, and the original spaces have a voice in it's new life. With an addition on the front of the structure, an attempt was made to address the street, as the structure had never needed to do this before. It's distance from the street (over 100') provides a sense of privacy, and as it sits in the center of the block, it is tucked in by trees and property lines.
Going from a crawl space originally, a full height basement was excavated within the internal portion of the building, inset from the original foundation to allow a transition of load. The upper portion of the structure was supported on a temporary box truss, sitting on the internal foundation. Once secured on this temp support, the exterior walls were cut away to make room for a new perimeter foundation and the foundation for the addition.
The original spaces, and the main details of the carriage house have been preserved. The new steel/wood framed addition provides open, light filled space to contrast with the more tucked in spaces of the original stable and workshop. Old & new, modern and traditional, the carriage house is more than anything an exploration of space, light, and paths of movement.
