Dreary…
“We fell in love with its potential,” says Danelle Tarrant of the limestone cottage in Carlisle, PA, that she shares with her husband, Nic, and 3-year-old daughter, Quinn. So we asked architect Josh Dourte of Roost Architecture for ways to bring out the best in the 1953 house.
…To Cheery
“The main challenge is the closed-off, recessed front door, so I wanted to announce the entry with a timber-frame porch,” Dourte says. He also finds the existing eyebrow windows, while charming, seriously undersized. “Creating larger shed dormers gives more daylight to the second floor and more presence to the facade,” he says. Additional upgrades, including a new cedar roof, half-round zinc gutters, lantern-style lighting, and a paneled front door, add to the cottage charm.
Danelle’s reaction? “It blew me away! The changes give the house so much more character.”
Personality Supports
An entry porch offers protection from the weather. Its flared roof and timber supports add personality.
Pro Tip: Tom Silva, This Old House general contractor, warns that porch columns are a particular weak point because water is wicked up by the base, even on an elevated porch, causing them to rot. To extend their lifespan, he recommends raising wood columns off the landing using special galvanized metal brackets and hiding the gap with cellular PVC baseboard material. “These days we’re also using a lot more man-made materials, like cellular PVC trim, which lasts forever and is impervious to water,” he says.
Finishing Touches: Door Color
Cottage-style additions—from paint to plantings—freshen up a sleepy street front
A summer-sky-inspired shade—called Spa—on the new paneled door extends an upbeat welcome and enlivens the whole facade. From $48 per gallon; Sherwin-Williams
Finishing Touches: Wall Light
A single sconce in antiqued brass helps balance the off-center door, and also warms up the stone. Columbia 7″ Arts & Crafts Lantern Wall Sconce, $399; Rejuvenation
Pro Tip: Lighting designers love surface-hugging sconces like this one for their ability to “graze” illumination onto textured stone or stucco walls and three-dimensional trimwork, creating an inviting, theatrical effect, according to This Old House Magazine.
Design math: When a single sconce is your best option, This Old House Magazine recommends mounting it so the center of the fixture sits at roughly one-quarter the height of the door plus its casing—most folks make the mistake of choosing fixtures that are too small and hanging them too high.
Finishing Touches: Foundation Plant
Bell-like blooms and rosy new growth give glossy, evergreen Pieris japonica ‘Mountain Fire’ lots of spring interest. $80 for a 3.6-gallon pot; Monrovia
Pro Tip: When choosing a foundation plant, think beyond the nursery pot. Anne F. Walters, a landscape architect in West Chester, Pennsylvania, warns against the cookie-cutter approach: “Two conical things on either side of the front door with two tall things on either end of the house with lower things in the middle—that’s a dated approach.”
Landscape architect Christopher J. Cohan of Rye, New York, recommends aiming for a balanced mix in the foundation bed—50 percent evergreens, 25 percent deciduous and flowering shrubs, and 25 percent perennials. And before you plant, consider mature size: “When you see that beautiful, blooming rhododendron at the garden center in a 2-gallon pot, you have to consider how big it will get over time before you plant it a foot from your house. Plan for at least 1 foot of space” between the plant and the foundation.
Finishing Touches: Door Knocker
Forged brass in a traditional ring shape is a handsome door accent. Solid Brass Ring Door Knocker with Round Bases, from $46; House of Antique Hardware
Thanks to: Josh Dourte, Roost Architecture, Boiling Springs, PA
