THOMPSON ALTERATIONS & ADDITIONS (under construction)
Some Bedford friends had been living in the same house for over thirty years. I was surprised when they called and said that they wanted to buy a house less than a mile away that had “good bones” but needed a lot of work. It not only had good bones, it was on five acres with a stream and pond bordered on three sides by several acres of Nature Conservancy Preserve.
“Before & After” Floor Plans
The main living areas of the ground floor were fine – just needed some refurbishing. What needed to be added was storage – preferably without enlarging the footprint. That was easy; The large master bathroom had a totally glass roof with zero insulating value. So it made sense to add a large cedar closet above. Then over the entry hall was a perfect place to add an “attic” but with convenient access and heated so that paintings and “stuff” could be stored there without the detrimental effects of so many storage areas. Also the existing Master Bedroom was large enough but it was one-story with ceiling less than eight feet. Also there was inadequate insulation in the ceiling.
So we tore down the Master Bedroom to the foundation and built a two-story addition with an office retreat above for Mrs. Thompson. With the new additions on the upper level the insulation was increase substantially to exceed the minimum requirement of the strict New York State Energy Code. The plan was to complete the alterations to the main part of the house, get a C of O for that portion of the house so the owners could put their old house on the market. Once ensconced in the main part the next phase of the project could begin: Replacing the one-story garage with a new one with a Studio/Office for Mr. Thompson on the second floor.
PHOTO: View from the southwest showing the second floor additions under construction
