Merit Award, Whole-House Remodeling Over $500,000: Cool and Efficient

Cool & Efficient

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A charming Victorian home gets a revamp and improved connection to the garden.

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Priorities

• Connect the home to the garden; improve efficiency; maintain the home’s Victorian charm

Solutions

The covered porch — separated from the new dining room by a 14-foot-wide multi-fold door — shades the interior and has a countertop and sink. Two-inch rigid insulation applied to the exterior plus new windows throughout improve livability and efficiency. The team increased attic insulation and installed an “ice-house” ventilated roof, which helps keep the spaces below comfortable. The new kitchen and dining room feature ample south-facing windows. The windows on the older part of the home were installed from the exterior, to retain the historic interior molding.

Judges’ comments

The judges liked how the design team “extend[ed] the spaces of the house by making a complete wraparound veranda”; played with contrasting materials; and created warmth with a timbered ceiling. “[The project] is beautiful and appropriately furnished. They got the palette to make sense.” —Stacey Freed, senior editor, REMODELING.