When we met with these clients the owner said she wanted to “feel pride every time she looks at her house.”

The existing house was a small Cape style home that her family had long outgrown.

The rooms were cramped, ceilings very low and storage space was non-existent.

However, their site was in a beautiful and very desirable location allowing them to walk to town, school and playground.

Although the lot was very small, the lovely surrounding open meadow and wooded area gave the impression of a large amount of land.

In order to meet a tight budget and prevent unnecessary demolition, we built a new two storey house on the old foundation.

The new house was built almost entirely on the existing footprint with only a very small addition.

The previous small isolated spaces became a large family and dining room open to the new kitchen. A step down enabled us to raise the ceiling in this new room.

The stone fireplace is flanked by built-ins, and the flat screen TV is on an arm that allows it to be angled toward the seating area, or the room as a whole.