New Life for Old Houses
Reclaimed for Year-Round Living:
A redesign puts this house in sync with the site, opening it to water views and breezes
The owners didn’t snap up this Greenwich, Conn. house for its architecture but for its prime position right at the water's edge, which had the potential for fantastic views of Long Island Sound. The house itself was an "insignificant little structure," says Elena Kalman, the Stamford, Conn., architect who worked with J.P. Singer Construction of Old Greenwich to remodel the vacation house into a year-round home. Kalman's redesign, which added a second story, created a house that takes perfect advantage of the waterfront, with an open and airy interior, fabulous views, and outdoor living spaces. Ship-like balcony railings and a curving window wall on the second floor give the house a nautical air. Red and green lights on the curving wall reinforce the ocean-liner motif.
Although it was built as a vacation getaway, the house largely turned its back on the amenities that vacationers value most-water views, pleasant outdoor areas, and a sense of connection between indoors and out. The owners were smitten with the site but knew they would have to undertake a major makeover of the building. "There was very little glass," they recall. "The house definitely didn't live up to its potential." Wisely, they resisted the impulse to rush into a remodeling; they lived in the house for a while, learning in the process what they wanted to do and what they could afford. However, they did take a few initial steps on their own before they called in Kalman, tearing down a wall between the tiny kitchen and the dining space and replacing two stock sliding glass doors on the water side with an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling glass doors and windows. "Removing the interior wall gave us an open kitchen, which we love," say the owners, "and the new window wall gave us light and views."
The new second story elevated the house both physically and architecturally, and roughly doubled the square footage. From up here, the spectacular view is even better-a curved window wall in the bedroom provides panoramic drama. A small screened porch adjoins the balcony, which is ideal, the owners say, for rainy nights and for watching summer storms far out on the water. To bring light into the rear of the house, which, for privacy, has very few windows, Kalman created a 32' -long skylight that she calls the "major organizing element of the house." The vaulted skylight runs parallel to the water, illuminating several upstairs spaces, including the master suite's dressing room, and the two-story-high foyer.