Before and After

Potic Cottage: Before

Potic Cottage: After

Crow's Nest, Hog Island, Maine: interior Before

Crow's Nest, Hog Island, Maine: Interior After
Even while rusticating, where we reside can have an impact on our experience. Just ask Thoreau. House Thinking by Winifred Gallagher and At Home, a new book by Bill Bryson are just two of many texts that explore how our homes evolve and the impact they have on our psyche. Both of these Bouler Architecture 'before and after' projects were on strict budgets and wanted to tread lightly in their environmental impact. The top one is our weekend place, Potic Cottage, in the Hudson Valley--a one bedroom cottage originally 665 square feet. The other, Crow's Nest on Hog Island, Maine, houses Audubon's summer ornithology camps. Through a combination of economical design and creative use of materials, these projects were able to transform the space to be most hospitable.

Form and Function

Here are some final images of the Islip Fire Department project, another downtown renovation/retrofit by Bouler Architecture. The original building, a Mediterranean style from the 1920's, sorely needed to modernize in order for the fire department to house its fleet of trucks and to accommodate the volunteers. Even the bell tower was restored, bell included. Hopefully the trend of tearing down old structures to pave the way for the new can be quelled in light of the successful results of renovations like this one.

577 Main Street

Retrofitting a building is an eco-friendly option instead of tearing things down. With retrofitting, however, comes a slew of design challenges, not the least of which is how to fit a new function into an old structure. 577 Main Street, a Bouler Architecture project, turns Islip's former town hall into a modern office building. The brick building, which also once housed a couple of jail cells, offered unique design elements. For example, by incorporating the exposed brick in the interior, the modern pendant light fixtures and sleek furnishings read more like a city loft rather than a sterile corporate environment. With Verace just two doors down, Bouler Architecture was able to update two historic and important structures in downtown Islip while maintaining the street's character.

Potic Cottage: Painted!

Rarely does a house project take less time than budgeted; however painting the first floor exterior of Potic Cottage this weekend was rather straightforward. The kids even helped out, making the project quick work. The color choice kind of chose us, don't ask, but Jackson said, "It's a country house, after all," so we decided to go for it. Now all you need to imagine is a second story deck off the back, large enough for a tent.

Potic Progress: Front Facade

The images from the contractor's cell phone kind of speak for themselves.

Potic Progress: Siding

To our great pleasure, we pulled into Potic Cottage's driveway to discover siding on the house. After quite a bit of creative deliberation, James decided on a hardy plank panel with batten trim on the addition, with mahogany to be installed on the front facade. As for color, we wanted to keep the arts and crafts mood without losing the modernity of James's design. We're thinking of painting the original portion of the house a charcoal grey. A big thanks to contractor Tim Hilgendorff and his crew from Timberhill Constructionfor incredible craftsmanship-- we can hardly wait to see it complete.

Renovation: Unexpected Therapy

I needed to clear my mind from the whirlwind of fundraising and step away from my computer, so the entire family retreated to Potic Cottage, our small spot in the Hudson Valley. After a couple of days of birdwatching and kayaking, it was time to turn my attention to home improvements. We had taken most of the winter off, so it was long overdue. After a roofing leak was repaired, it left unsightly peeling paint in the spare bedroom, eeewww, which revealed a laminated wall board underneath, double eeeww. With spatula in hand, it was time to go. And to my surprise, it felt good to roll my spataula along the wall, paint curling up in long streamers, more like the guilty pleasure of peeling sunburn than renovation. The result, clean but not good looking. I'm hoping that with the proper primer or with white pine nailed on top, it will be much nicer. Until then, I'm looking for some big paintings to distract visitors.
Undeterred, I straightened out the upstairs bathroom, adding small shelves and towel hooks. And how do you like my toilet paper holder? Rustic, no? I capped the improvements by putting my bed on its proper frame. What better way to celebrate this frenzy of nesting? By enjoying last year's improvements of a screened-in porch and a fire in the Malm stove over a glass of red wine.

Birds in the Bell Tower

It seems I'm not the only one with bird nests on my mind. James visited the Islip Fire Department project, seen here in this 'before' picture, only to be shown a huge pigeon nest in the bell tower. The goal of restoring the orignal bell to the tower requires moving the nest to a more suitable location without disturbing it. I'll let you know how they make out.

Beach House: In the Details

Modernemama revealed her renovated bathroom-- what a fantastic job turning a standard 1960's 'builder' bathroom into something rather fabulous! Using different textures and tones, the mix of chocolate-colored wood, cool white marble, steel fixtures, and mosaic tile, gives a clean and chic look to the master bathroom without being sterile. As for the other renovations underway-- I counted three, or was it four?, kitchen flooring, window treatments, area rugs, and throw pillows were all under discussion. What I love about each of the choices I saw was how they all connected to the mid-century vibe of the house without being kitchy or dated. Instead, they took the lines and colors of the past, pulling them through to the present in exciting and inventive ways.

ModerneMama

I had a lovely trip to see blogger Jane, aka Modernemama's, bathroom today. The house, an Andrew Gellar modernist puzzle, is a complicated balance of midcentury aesthetics, so redoing the master bath is an interesting renovation. It's size-- substantial-- with a connection to a walk in closet, and the space functions well with both a shower stall and a sunken bath, so the renovation is more cosmetic than structural. Jane graciously shared her tile ideas over a delicious cup of Belgian coffee, and I was keen to agree with her direction for the space.

What was even more intriguing was searching for the best spots to photograph the facade of the house. Its complexity combined with a shadowy elusiveness made me wonder which elevation could serve as the genesis of a surreal painting based on the house. I like that the building ducks and hides behind shrubbery, sneaking an unexpected angle here and there. Finding its sweet spot? That's a challenge I'm willing to take.

Another Before and After

Overlooking Northport harbor, this seasonal cottage was in a dilapidated state when our client purchased it. The extensive renovation added to the foundation's footprint and capitalized on the water view.

Befores and Afters

Reality shows have made their fortunes on this basic truism: everyone loves a good makeover. Whether its someone's home, wardrobe, or even their body, viewers hang on until the big 'reveal'. There is something exciting about transformation, and with an existing home, it is a creative give and take to try to use as much of the original structures as possible, as these BDG projects can attest.