The Lexington Bed and Breakfast
A two-family home in Lexington, Massachusetts, was converted to a bed and breakfast with a 2,400-square-foot addition and a handicapped-accessible in-law suite.

The spring of 1988 saw us joining up with homeowners Mary-Van and Jim Sinek to build an addition onto their home in Lexington, Massachusetts. The project became known as the "B&B job," since one major component was adding three extra bedrooms and baths for the Sineks to rent out as bed-and-breakfast accommodations. Another crucial aspect was creating an in-law's suite for Mary-Van's elderly mother, complete with handicapped-accessible bedroom and bath.
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When Jim's employer relocated the couple to Massachusetts from Rochester, New York, they found that real estate prices in the metropolitan Boston area had "gone through the roof" — even for modest homes. Jim, an engineer, and Mary-Van, a veteran do-it-yourselfer, purchased the house with the goal of making the housing help to pay for itself by renting out one unit (or converting it into a condominium) and generating additional income from the bed-and-breakfast operation.
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The house they bought, built in 1909, was a well-kept, wood-frame, side-by-side two-family residence on a generous corner lot. Designer Jock Gifford of Design Associates drew up the addition in a style sympathetic to the existing building; its 2,400 square feet doubled the existing square-footage of one of the house's units. The addition featured:
- a new master bedroom and bathroom for Jim and Mary-Van
- an enlarged and efficient kitchen
- an adjacent breakfast room (complete with zero-clearance fireplace) and dining room for family reunions and the bed-and-breakfast operation
- a spacious family room
- two outdoor decks: one of granite for family use, the other wooden for B&B guests
- a finished basement
- an attached two-car garage
- and a whole-house audio system
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An ambitious project, the Sinek addition filled all 26 episodes that year, and in addition to the construction included issues as diverse as radon and faux-finishing. Rounding out the series were a number of "field trips":
- visits to several bed-and-breakfast establishments to see how they're run
- a tour of Metropolitan Home's Showhouse, a five-story Manhattan townhouse decorated by world-class artists and designers (Mario Buatta, David Hockney, Norma Kamali, Wolfgang Puck, among others) to benefit AIDS patients
- a visit to a single-family home development in Aurora, Illinois, featuring houses so energy-efficient the builder guaranteed that annual heating bills would not exceed $200
- a look at handicapped-accessibility issues through visits to two homes--one with a young boy in a wheelchair and one owned by an older couple who were planning for the day when their mobility would be impaired
- behind-the-scenes tours at a Vermont granite quarry, a veneer plywood paneling factory, a stair-parts factory, and the kilns where many of America's porcelain bathroom fixtures are made.
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