Before and After: Sadie Street Queen Anne
The breif:
Despite decades of deferred maintenance and upgrades, this 120 year old Southtown San Antonio historic home had good bones and beautiful Queen Anne exterior decorative woodwork that promised one of the best expressions of a gingerbreaded front porch in the neighborhood. The overall condition was rough and the interior was chopped up with previous remodels. Our plan of action was to reconfigure and open up the kitchen and living room areas, redesign the bathroom/bedroom/office spaces, and fully rehab the home from foundation and frame on up. Special attention was to be given to preserving the existing wood floors and ceilings and re-using any antique longleaf pine taken from the home. Our key organizing principles for this project were:
❋ Collaborative communicationExtensive remodeling is an exploratory process, often with revisions and deferred decision-making on some selections. We created a shared specifications spreadsheet available online to keep the owners, the design team, and the build/procurement team on the same page and minimize mistakes. Each week we walked through the project with the homeowners to review progress, developments and selection milestones. Input from the owners was carefully noted and incorporated. Any necessary or elective changes that came up were problem-solved, reviewed, priced, and submitted for approval. The clear process kept the project moving smoothly forward, and the design vision intact.
❋ Adaptive rehabExtensive remodeling is an exploratory process, often with revisions and deferred decision-making on some selections. We created a shared specifications spreadsheet available online to keep the owners, the design team, and the build/procurement team on the same page and minimize mistakes. Each week we walked through the project with the homeowners to review progress, developments and selection milestones. Input from the owners was carefully noted and incorporated. Any necessary or elective changes that came up were problem-solved, reviewed, priced, and submitted for approval. The clear process kept the project moving smoothly forward, and the design vision intact.
❋ Historic continuityCarefully preserving the Queen Anne fretwork and gingerbread details, as well as all wood siding that could be used were both requirements for this historic neighborhood project. The distressed and thickly painted porch structure had no structural header and was resting on a decades-old concrete raised porch that had sunken on one side as the house subsided. The entire porch assembly was carefully deconstructed, stripped of paint, repaired, sanded and meticulously reinstalled over a new Timbertek decked front porch. Any interior original wood removed was saved and re-milled for interior and exterior details.
❋ Design focusThe project’s architect, Nick Melde, worked extensively with the owners to create a well thought out design concept that opened up the living areas in the rear of the home by removing the ceiling above the relocated kitchen to create a low cathedral ceiling over the entire living area. The entry hallway and front office add some spice with premium wall coverings and original wood board ceiling accents. All kitchen and bath cabinets were designed and built to the customers’ exact needs, including custom drawers and roll-outs, dimmable under cabinet lighting, drawer outlets, and built-in corner shelves.
