Renovations
We felt very stongly that there was no need to replace anything just because it was old. In fact, we marveled at the craftmanship, detail and creativity involved in building a house like this and wanted to celebrate that by keeping as much as original as possible (with a little freshening up). Those visible things that needed to be changed, or added, were done so with an attempt to be true to the original architectural intent. Those things that are not visible were updated in the most modern way possible for convenience and efficiency. This house was built to last and we wanted to keep it that way!
Most of the work done since 2016 has been cosmetic in nature or infrastructure related. However, there were a few obvious deficiencies that needed to be addressed, some shown below. A complete list of all the renovation and upgrade work can be seen here.
Kitchen
The function of a kitchen area has changed since this house was built. It is clear that this area, and in fact the entire wing of this house, was where the “help” lived and worked, not the center of social gathering as it is today. So this area required a complete gut and removal of the wall between the existing kitchen and breakfast room to create a larger, modern and more inviting space. The huge stainless sink was moved to the Butler’s Pantry.
Garage
The estate’s orginal 7-car garage was made part of a divided parcel, so a new 24′ x 34′ 2-story garage was added on the existing retention walls next to the house.
Patio
We needed a new, more fitting space to enjoy the fantastic views at the perfect distance away from the lake.
Chimneys
One of the first things we did was rebuild the chimneys because all three were in disrepair like the one you see on the left. It took a while to decide on what configuration to go with, as we felt a more fitting style was warranted for this grand house. After careful consideration, we decided on the one you see here. It wasn’t until years later that we realized, after looking at original drawings, that the style we picked was nearly identical to the original design as shown in the drawing on the right! (Looking an old photos, it appears that what existed on the house was a remnant of the original chimney that had its top courses of brick removed sometime later in its life).
Electric Wall Heaters
Each of the main bathrooms of the house had original, working electric heaters built into the walls. Their ceramic face matched the surrounding wall tile. The elements of these old heaters got red hot and were potentially dangerous because they were partially exposed. It was originally thought we would simply make them inoperable and leave them in place because 1) they were beautiful and interesting, and 2) there was no way to replace them or cover the openings in an aesthetically pleasing way without having the matching wall tile which had not been made for decades. But one day, while crawling around deep in the attic, a box of leftover tile from the original installation of each bathroom was discovered buried under the insulation – an amazing find!
So, still a tricky endeavor due to the very substantial wall construction, each heater was eventually replaced and the repair virtually imperceptible.