The owners of this 1930’s whitewashed brick French Colonial Revival house embraced its intimate scale and its careful siting on the property. They asked us to renovate and expand the house to 5000 square feet with a subtlety that preserved the structure’s gracious relationship to the land and counteracted the prevailing “McMansion” approach common to renovation/expansion projects in Wesley Heights. We focused on scaled elegance in our transformation of the façade: we replaced small double hung windows with gently stretched casement windows, designed a shallow entrance porch to replace the modest front door overhang, and lifted the hip roof to accommodate new dormers. Expanding the structure required working within an unusual triangular shaped lot, a challenge addressed by our four-storey rear addition that is faceted in plan and massing. Wrapped in banks of casement windows and framed by wood trim and panels, the addition appears as a giant lantern at night. Interior designer Andrew Law infused the interiors with a rich, but understated quiet elegance. The introduction of a new side porch – designed as an outdoor room with low brick walls and a fireplace – appears as part of the lush side garden, further connecting the dwelling and its site.

Photography by Gordon Beall