How do you make a nineteenth century back door into a twenty first century front door?
Having purchased 200 acres of land with magnificent views of the Hudson River, our clients told us that they couldn’t relate to the Greek Revival house on the property. They did, however, express a desire to be respectful of it. They told us that they would be happier in a Mies-inspired glass house. They also pointed out that the approach to the house is toward the back of the house and several unsightly additions, additions that needed to be removed and replaced with a new addition. The new addition would be a de facto front façade.
Reflecting our clients’ desire to be environmentally friendly, we designed the roof of the addition to be a green, planted roof. The roof extends almost to the ground so that it defines a volume that is stylistically neutral, not competing with the volume of the existing house. With a nod to the neoclassical columns of the existing house, and in homage to Mies’ Farnsworth house and our clients’ preference for that, the walls of the addition that face the view are glass with Miesian columns. The addition contains the kitchen, seating area with fireplace, powder room, laundry room, balcony from the existing stairs of the Greek Revival house and a carport.
The final result is a carefully considered blurring of old and new, landscape and structure.