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The Coat of Arms House |
This
grand home started life as a once-humble one storey Tudor in the desirable
Virginia-Highlands neighborhood. We were hired by the clients to turn
it into a grand two storey home for a family with two small boys. We began
by digging new large footing under the entire existing home and installing
3 foot concrete footings and changing out the homes beams for LVL beams
to support the new weight. We removed the rear wall of the original house,
as well as the entire roof. To see the process of the renovation, click
on the photojournal link below. As we enlarged and expanded the house,
we knew it was key to make sure that the Tudor maintained its character
and so we carefully removed all of the existing woodwork, light fixtures,
medicine cabinet, etc and restored them for reinstalling. In the new upstairs
of the home, we repurposed salvaged matching antique doors and hung them
with antique hardware. Every detail of the house was carefully restored
from the original painted butler's pantry, now a gleaming built-in antique,
to the giant heart of pine columns that frame out the dining room. The
house is now a 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom dream home boasting historic character
and charm.
Click for a pdf
photojournal of the transformation of this house.
Virtual Tour:
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In this large scale project, we tore off the original roof and added a second floor. We added and restored this gorgeous Craftsman style front door and customized it by adding rails and stiles to make it structurally sounder. The original slag glass light fixture was removed, restored, and reinstalled. The mailbox is original. Finally, we added our signature Laughing Sun plaque to the portico. |
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This large elegant living room is the original footprint. We stripped the paint off the woodwork and milled replacement pieces from the original Tudor roof sheathing when necessary. As per the client’s wishes, we installed reproduction solid fir wood windows in the same lite pattern as the originals. We salvaged the original panes for re-use. This house was a time capsule of sorts was wonderful in that it still featured gorgeous original light fixtures. We removed the original castle-like Tudor sconces, rewired them and reinstalled them on the newly rewired electrical boxes. The fireplace mantel was stripped of its paint, sanded, refinished and shellacked. We added 99.9% efficient gas logs in the fireplace to heat the living room space. In the spirit of restoring green, we installed soy-foam insulation throughout the entire houses’ framing members. |
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The dining room was modified to add a staircase to the new upstairs and a staircase to the basement. The house had a few original arches and this theme was carried throughout the restored and new spaces. They celebrate openings, transitions, and stairwells. To support weight from the upstairs, we installed reclaimed heart of pine porch columns underneath structural, load bearing pedestals that we custom crafted from the house’s 2x8 roofing sheathing. The stunning 1930s chandelier is a genuine Tudor fixture hailing from old England and features striking art glass globes. This gracious dining room opens into the chef’s dream kitchen and is perfect for facilitating parties. |
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This dream kitchen
was custom crafted to fit the 1930’s Tudor theme. Eclestical
arches, heart
pine upper cabinets milled from reclaimed wood, and fine woodworking
details such as flush inset drawers and doors, elegant brackets,
profiled toe kick, opaque art glass, and soft close drawers complete
the experience. The spacious kitchen is topped with traditional
Calacatta gold marble
counters and the island is topped with St. Sebastian antique
granite with a texture similar to that of leather. The large custom
pantry
affords a plethora of storage. The original butler's
pantry was moved to the breakfast nook of the new kitchen and
extensively restored. We stripped the paint, spent hours sanding,
rebuilding it, and varnishing the piece. It’s now a beautiful
built-in antique. The breakfast nook also boasts a unique antique
light fixture. |
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This original bedroom was located in the rear of the house. To add the second floor, we had to remove the original oak flooring and rebuild the entire structure of the foundation and then put the antique oak flooring back in. All of the original doors in the house were restored, as well as the beautiful door hardware. The HVAC registers were also restored. We did add the antique French doors to open up the space to the kitchen. The homeowners use this bedroom as a family room.
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This space is the location of the original bathroom. Because of the need to beef up the structural underneath this space, we gutted the bathroom down to the studs. That process uncovered termite & water damage that we repaired. We went back with subway tile in the shower; refinished the original cast iron tub, installed new faucets. The homeowners chose a similar white hexagon tile for the floor. The Tudor sconce is original and we rewired it. The pedestal sink is an antique provided by LSR and restored. The medicine cabinet is the restored original.
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This bedroom is in the footprint of the original downstairs bedroom. It opens up onto the gorgeous screened in porch, accented by arched masonry. The vintage fixture is the restored original.
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It was important to us to create a grand staircase that featured vintage recycled parts. The cherry wood newel post and the hefty heart of pine banister are beautiful reclaimed antiques. The oak stair treads and spindles complete the effect that this stair case has always been here. The stairwell leading to the basement features a stunning 1930’s stained glass piece from Youngstown, OH and gives the house it’s name as The Coat of Arms House. The stunningly colorful piece of antique glass on the upper landing is from a New Jersey mansion from the late 1800s. Both these pieces are gorgeous built-in pieces of art that make the house sparkle. |
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A room in its own right, the upstairs hall is a large spacious room with beautiful built-in bookcases, shaped by arches. We used reclaimed newel posts, reclaimed banister, and stunning light fixtures. The stained glass chandelier hailed from South Carolina and the schoolhouse lights were from Ohio. |
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The master bedroom
is a soothing oasis of neutrals and earth tones. This new space
was designed and built for relaxation and features a bank of casement
windows, oak floors stained to match, and restored antique doors
and hardware.
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This dream master bath features double hung windows, beaded board
wainscoting, a restored 1900s antique tub,
two reproduction pedestal sinks, custom made medicine cabinets,
and a stunning shower
tiled with honed
white Cararra marble and finished with a custom glass door. |
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This new space is one of the children’s bedrooms
and feature a funky colorful ceiling fan, Jacobean stained floors,
and antique doors and hardware. A bank of casement windows across
the back throws lots of light into the space. |
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The upstairs bathroom
belongs to the two young boys and pays tribute to the original bathroom
downstairs. Traditional patterned tile (dot in a box), wood beaded
board wainscot, and subway bring the space to life. A beautiful
hand beveled leaded window throws rainbows of natural light around
the space. A black vanity topped with stone and a 100 year old heart
of pine medicine cabinet give this the spirit of a century old lavatory. |
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email: paula@laughingsun.com
