The main house is a late 19th century construction, probably a care takers house from a large estate which was moved to this site in the first half of the 20th century, a garage was constructed with a breezeway connecting the house and the garage sometime later. When the current owners purchased the property the breezeway had been enclosed and was used as a dining area, after adding a pool, and using the house as it was, they decided it was time to expand, improve the kitchen facility and add bedrooms. The lot is a corner lot with deep building setbacks so we were restricted to use the footprint of the existing garage as the new building site. In order to have the new construction which is smaller than the main house not look out of place the owners decided it should appear to be the older of the two. We researched early American New England and Long Island building types and the new building reflects that. The informal breezeway entry became more formal still retaining the dining area with its own fireplace. The ground floor of the new building became a large country kitchen with an oversized fireplace, as well as a powder room with two bedrooms and a bath on the upper level. The new construction does not have a basement so it receives heating and cooling from the main building. Old timber from a deconstructed period building was used as structural members and left exposed to view, old doors were located for reuse, the windows and kitchen cabinets are custom built in the original style by local craftsmen and old brick was used in the construction of the fireplaces, and the flooring is seasoned pine boards. The clients located period light fixtures and hardware and other finishing touches, bringing the new in harmony with the existing building the result is a truly delightful combination of old and new with neither out of place.
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