Renovation of an addition to a private residence
Bethesda, Maryland

History and Description of the Project

The owner’s program for this project was to:

• Create an appropriate single-story addition so that the galley kitchen could be expanded into the side yard.
• Create a new third floor guest suite within a new roof structure.
• Renovate the existing master bedroom suite.
• Improve the “curb appeal” of the residence.

The existing residence seemed to be characterized as a small, less than attractive house cowering behind a large hedge, in a neighborhood of larger, more stately homes. The design solution incorporated all aspects of the program in a manner that transformed the residence. The new kitchen addition was accommodated by creating a new three-bay “porch” addition on the north side of the residence. The original north wall of the kitchen was removed to allow the room to expand into two enclosed bays of the “porch”. The third bay was left as an open porch to allow a covered access to the kitchen from the driveway. This open porch provided an opportunity to create a shallow bay in the existing dining room to allow for more convenient furniture placement, as well as for fenestration on the north wall.

The mansard roof was removed and a new gable roof was constructed. The new roof has three gabled dormers on the west façade, which provide light to the new guest suite, and serve to improve the scale of the new front façade. New, taller windows with more generous pane sizes were installed on the front façade to increase the vertical reading of the house, and improve the scale. A new front porch was added that relates directly with the new side “porch” addition.