Small Lot. Big Changes!
Expanding a house’s footprint to fit the needs of a growing family is sometimes easier said than done…especially when the house is situated on a tight property! Luckily for us, Karin Robinson of Wright & Robinson Architects produced a design that elegantly introduced a sizable addition onto this beautiful home in Montclair, NJ.
By demolishing the large but under-utilized rear deck of the house, we were able to construct an addition featuring windows from Andersen’s Woodwright Series line and clad with hand split cedar shakes. The addition itself housed a new family room and an expanded and reconfigured kitchen. And where there was previously no bathroom available to the homeowners and their guests on the first floor, we added one! Accessible from an intermediate stair landing, the new bathroom was built off the side of the house, elevated above the ground to ensure full use of the driveway and side entrance.
The bathroom features a gorgeous herringbone mosaic tile from Mediterranean Tile, custom-built raised panel wainscot and carrara marble shower jamb, glass tile surround and storage niche in the shower, fixtures and faucets from Restoration Hardware, Toto, and Rohl and an amazing sliding shower door from Alumax Bath Enclosures.
The kitchen, after being gutted, expanded and re-insulated, received stained oak flooring, custom cabinetry from Plain & Fancy Custom Cabinetry (supplied by Plain & Fancy Montclair), highly durable quartz countertops from Caeserstone and Formia Marble, and handcrafted backsplash tile from Fireclay Tile. A Wolf gas range and hood are the focal point of the appliance suite, with the other components being supplied by Electrolux and Bosch. Other functional touches include a deep, stainless steel undermount sink from Kraus, sleek faucet from Brizo, LED lighting throughout and a custom butcher block top.
Other improvements included a new, gas-fired 2-zone central HVAC system to replace the very costly oil-fired steam boiler, mahogany clad rear stair unit and a partial renovation of the home’s basement.