V.O. house

There is no question that there is an unseen world. The problem is, how far is it from midtown and how late is it open. Woody Allen

There is no question that good clients exist. The problem is… (fill in the blank; my opinion changes biannually).  The clients for this project qualify.

The V.O. family, made up of 2 adults, 2 kids, and often a varying number of graduate students (the parents are college professors) lives in a 3 story Victorian house with a vertical organization.  The third floor, under a gable roof, is constricted by the roof slopes and utilizes about half of the footprint of the building.  It is currently used as a master bedroom suite, complete with a comfortable bathroom inserted about 3 years ago.

The goals of the design brief were manifold:

• chart out a master plan for future improvements of the property, including possible expansions of the first and third floors and a future front porch redesign
• reconfigure the roof to maximize the usable floor area  with normal ceiling height of the third floor
• create free flowing but separable areas for rest, an office/study, and entertainment
• add two walk-in closets
• add a balcony to the third floor
• add a roof deck

The clients were very interested in sustainable materials and technologies.  They did not care much for the nostalgic character of the neighborhood “historic” residential architecture.  Mr. V.O. had already tinkered with a former house in Scottsdale, AZ and had a strong preference for clever, artistic, modern solutions.  The interior of the existing residence clearly reflects a modern lifestyle.

A few details made the challenge particularly interesting.  The current owners had bought the house only a couple of years earlier and had made extensive improvements, several of which to the third floor.  Although they had an idea of the vagaries of construction, the slick updated master bathroom had to be preserved.  All the work would be happening two floors, or over 20′ above the ground, in a fairly constricted urban site.

The turn of the twentieth century Victorian in its Cincinnati incarnation is a nice problem for the rehabber.  Structurally it relies on exterior bearing walls with another bearing wall bisecting the footprint along the longitudinal axis.  The exterior walls are wood framed with a standard size brick veneer extended up to the second floor and wood shingles at the gables and dormer.  The old, turn of the twentieth century neighborhood where the house is situated features a variety of these, several of which have undergone exterior rehab in the past, with the great majority of the improvements restricted to adding mud rooms at the back, various sized porches and siding or repainting.  Few if any have ventured to challenge stylistic integrity.

For us, sticking to the archetype was not an issue.  We were looking for coherence, and relevance, not restoration.

In search for the right mix of design ingredients and design approach, budget and zoning compliance, a faceted convulsion of the roof offered the most promise.  It would keep in their places two roof parts: a narrow portion of the gable facing the street, and the piece over the master bathroom. The rest of the roof would fold in a manner recalling the mansard figure to raise the height over the updated sleeping area and walk in closets, and form the study on the opposite side.  To keep the overall height the same as the existing roof ridge, several facets of the reconfigured roof would lower their slope, accommodating the roof deck above.  The origami like folding provided an opportunity for clean, crisp lines which would not contradict the simple volumes of the surrounding residences yet reveal an unexpected angle.  We sought to make a statement through that folding, glazed parts opening at opportune places between the roof planes and a boldly cantilevered exterior stair to the roof deck.  The very suggestion of roof top activity would intrigue the passer by, hinting at a metropolitan style of living.  The family is seriously considering entertaining on their roof deck, so we designed several features into it: a bench and a pergola integrated with the guard rail.

The combined effect of the mansard geometry over the bedroom area, the bay projection directly below it, and the deep eave gave us the opportunity to extend the floor, cantilevering it by three feet.  This adds about 50 sq.ft. to the floor plate, by beeing size-neutral on the outside – the extension coinsides with the eave line.  The balcony cantilevers 6′ off of the third floor, providing another comfortable exterior area, a level below the grand view of the roof deck.  It is also an observation point for the parent couple, overlooking a back yard complete with a tree house where the kids of the family and their neighborhood friends spend a lot of time in late spring, summer and fall.

The bulk of the design decisions survived design development and a hard process of budget realignment.  The general conditions: site, the need to keep the rest of the house dry while the roof is open added cost to the budget, so  some material sacrifices, like the metal roof and the larch woold siding had to be made.  The cantilevered straight two run stair was replaced by a prefab spiral one.  The construction is slated to start in April and should be finished by the summer of 2010.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION PHOTOS

Design team:

Raffi Tomassian – Designer

Robin Hahn/Mike White (Advantage Group Engineers) – Structural Engineers