Shed Roof Revival

Location: Great Falls, VA

After more than forty years, this 1970s California contemporary was showing its age and limitations. To meet the clients needs, an expansion and renovation was in order. At the clients request, we focused on designing an expanded contemporary kitchen, enlarging the foyer and incorporating direct access to grade and transforming the one-car garage into a two and a half car garage with a powder room and second floor hobby area to accommodate the owner’s train collection.

To build the addition and renovate the home, a new foundation needed to be poured and all windows and siding needed replacement. Since the existing house was constructed with an all-wood foundation system, it was difficult to connect the new masonry foundation to the existing home. After careful research, a membrane waterproofing system proved to be the perfect solution. Once the siding was removed, we uncovered rotting portions of the foundation and drainage problems where shed roofs were terminating against existing walls. The rotted wood was carefully removed and reconstructed with pressure treated lumber and proper waterproofing. We addressed the drainage issue by elevating windowsills and crickets to allow for sufficient flashing. Since the original milling pattern of the siding was no longer available, replacement siding was custom milled to maintain the original pattern.

We also had to modify the garage addition due to the location of the existing well. The well, which is used for landscape watering, was too close to the proposed new addition. After negotiating with the Health Department in Fairfax County, we offset left side of the garage wall to maintain the required 10-foot setback from the existing well.

By incorporating the homes existing geometry we were able to seamlessly integrate the addition and design modifications. The new foyer, expanded kitchen and hobby room are hard to distinguish from the original and the repetition of elements like the cathedral ceilings have created very interesting interior spaces. The rich book-matched cherry cabinets, honed granite, glass tile, and stainless appliances deliver the contemporary aesthetics and “state-of-the-art” kitchen sought by the clients. Accent lighting is used to showcase the kitchen and exterior lighting was matched to the original.