Cracking the Code

We bought our raised ranch in 2005, right at the height of the Real Estate bubble.  Although we weren’t thrilled with the style, we WERE thrilled that we were able to get ANYTHING on this street in this town with this amount of land etc.  We sacrificed form over function but dreamed of a future project to make the house both more pleasing to the eye (tough) and bigger (yay).  We hired an architect in 2009 to assist us with our quest.  Ultimately, we realized that the “vision” for our home would have to come from us.  The architect we chose added very little value to the project unfortunately (and cost us a bundle).  We went through several drafts of different designs, including a colonial design that would have almost doubled the square footage.  Hubby spent many Saturday nights curled up with his pencil, ruler and graph paper trying to create the plan.  Finally in 2011, the clouds parted, lightning flashed,  and he emerged from his cave with something that just might work.

Our impression is that no one has ever really been able to “crack the code” on the raised ranch.  It is an extraordinarily difficult house to add onto.  It is boxy and boring.  There are few possible roof lines.  Space added to the main level must be supported by space added to the ground floor, which can easily create unnecessary redundancy.  With construction costs still running high in our area, coupled with the rising costs of fuel and electricity to heat and cool, homeowners on a budget do not want to build redundant or excess space.  Plus, in towns like ours where lot sizes are small, zoning regulations limit the number of square feet that can be added.

Cracking the code would be difficult.  We would truly have to think outside the box, the “box” being our 49’x30’ abode.  We would also have to accept our house for what it was.  It would never be a charming colonial.  But maybe it could work better.  Maybe we could take the disadvantages and turn them into advantages.

Disadvantage #1:  3 Bedrooms

Most people in our area would like a home with 4 bedrooms, and 4+ bedroom homes command a premium.  We only have 2 children, so 3 bedrooms suffices for us.  However, we had no comfortable place for guests to stay.  Our downstairs had been a large (28’x17’) playroom where we generally stowed guests, but there was no bathroom.  In order to add to our main level, we needed to extend the downstairs by approximately 9’.  This extra space created the opportunity for us to maintain a playroom almost the same size as before while adding a small office/bedroom and full bath.  We now have a beautiful guest suite – a great “add” to our home.  So far the only “problem” I have identified with this room is that Hubby thinks it is “his” room and I think it is “mine”.  He keeps all of his coats in the closet.  I keep my makeup and mirror on the desk (makeup becoming increasingly important these days, much to my chagrin).  So far we have had no Brady-like wars requiring tape down the middle of the room – hopefully we can continue to coexist.  Result:  Private guest suite now available!

Disadvantage #2:  Downstairs ceiling soffit

In our original playroom, in order to keep the ceiling height as close to 8’ as possible, a soffit had been created around the ductwork that ran down the center of the room.  When designing the downstairs bedroom, the idea was to have the rear bedroom wall end at the soffit and to build closets under the 2’ wide soffit.  One closet would open into the bedroom and one would open into the playroom (both with double doors).   We created an entry to the playroom under the remaining section of the soffit that gives the feeling of an archway and offers a sense of separation between the bedroom/bathroom area and the playroom.  Result:  Soffit drawback GONE and beautiful new storage closets HERE TO STAY!

Disadvantage #3:  Must add space downstairs to support upstairs addition

To support the main level addition, we added 9’ straight across the entire back of the house, including behind the garage.  We had to figure out what to do with the 9’ deep room to be built behind the garage.  A storage room was born to swallow up all of the “large” items Hubby hated storing in “his” garage, such as bikes, snow blower, picnic items, sports equipment, etc.  In order to circumvent FAR restrictions (floor area ratio – which limits the square footage that can be built on a particular size lot), this room had a raised cement floor and could not/would not be used as living space.  Result:  Great storage, happy Hubby, and support for master bedroom addition.

We did it

Wow it has been more than 2 years since my last entry, and quite a LOT has happened. To explain, in the autumn of 2010 I was approached by my former employer, Jones Lang LaSalle, about a potential job opportunity. With children in full time school, and 8 years of stay-homed-ness behind me, it seemed to be an offer I couldn’t refuse. So on December 6, 2010, I boarded Metro-North and began my journey back to me. Employment, with all of its “advantages”, brought more income to our household, and a renewed interest in doing something (ANYTHING) with our house to make it work better for us. We contacted our architect and began the ball rolling again. Hubby got to work on the plan – we had realized that while our architect could be useful, no one was better to put our ideas to paper than…us. Plus, I am living with a somewhat frustrated would-be- but non-engineer, so it made him happy. We would face a few challenges along the way – the floor area ratio in our neighborhood is severely limited, and all “above ground” space (including the garage) is included in the calculation. For a house like ours with a gloriously large garage, this is a down side. It meant that we were limited to the number of square feet we could add to the home (less than 500) without a variance from the city. This was mostly a challenge because in order to add square footage to the main living areas, it must be added to the downstairs as well. We applied for a 13% variance and were granted the same, thank goodness. During our planning phase, we talked about what was important to us: 4th bedroom, powder room for guests (so they would not have to share with our fast-approaching-teenagerhood daughters), new full bath for the girls, larger master bedroom, walk-in closet and bath, decent sized dining room (as opposed to the 9’ x11’ original), and a kitchen/family room on the main level. We decided that having more substantial sized rooms would be more important than the number of rooms. And that is how we ended up with a 30’ x 18.5' kitchen! Over the next few entries, I will reveal how we transformed our modest raised ranch to a sizeable home that flows beautifully for entertaining, has the right amount of “WOW” factor for our tastes, and feels more than ever like the house we have always dreamt of. Construction began in April. Our contractor (whom we LOVE) recognized our need/desire to stay in the house as long as possible before moving out to make way for his work. His plan was to excavate, pour foundation, replace windows and do practically anything and everything he could do while we were still living here. He framed and built the addition abutting the existing house, so that as I sat at my dining room table I could look out the window “into” my new kitchen. For a period of time this was fun, and exciting, especially for our cat. But in mid-May, as the dust began to accumulate and the workers were encroaching on our space, we moved in with Grandma and began our summer of displacement. The plan was to turn the dining room and kitchen into a more substantial dining room and hallway leading to the kitchen, which would be 100% addition. We would also add about 9 feet onto the Master bedroom and bath, with a deck behind. Downstairs we would add 9 feet to the family room which would make space for a 4th bedroom and 3rd full bath in the front of the house. What I learned very quickly (the day after we moved, in fact), is that contractors love to rip sh** apart. So when we walked back in on that fine May day, our WALLS WERE GONE. I seriously did NOT know they would rip everything out, so that I could literally walk between walls. But I trust the professionals, and have no expertise in the area of residential construction, so there we were, wall-less.