House in Greenwich, Greenwich, CT

The project is a renovation and extension of a circa 1930s brick cottage-style house in Greenwich. In its original form, the house had small, low-ceilinged rooms and labyrinthian circulation. Because the site was badly overgrown, the interior felt dark and unwelcoming. Despite these liabilities it was clear that house had great design potential. It is dramatically sited among rock outcroppings and has a charming, organic quality that sets it apart from its more symmetrical and composed suburban neighbors. 

The brief for the design was to modernize the interior to make it an inviting home for a family. The existing house was fully gutted, and an extension built to include a guest suite, mudroom, and a family room. Except for a few iconic moments such as the main stair, the floor plan was completely rearranged. Walls were removed and circulation rerouted to create open spaces and long sightlines. Windows and exterior doors were subtly enlarged while respecting the scale of the original composition. Because of a design covenant on the property, the extension had to respect the original style and lines of the house, and was built with brick and slate matched to the original materials. Nevertheless, the composition of the extension was altered with corner windows and sculptural rooflines to provide a modern interpretation of the vernacular style. 

The center piece of the extension is a double-height family room which provides a contrast to low-ceilinged rooms elsewhere in the house. Material palettes for the interior were chosen to harmonize with the simplicity of the exterior, with stained wood, while walls, natural stones, and simply framed windows.

Photographs: Michael Moran
Project Team: Vrinda Khanna, Robert Schultz, Talia Pinto-Handler
Landscape Design: Julie Farris, XS Space LLC 
Interior Design: Cristiana Mascarenhas, InPlus
General Contractor: Anderson Alves, ABC Constuction
Landscape Contractor: Rosedale Nurseries
Structural Engineering: Helmut Jobs PE