A CLOSER LOOK AT THE PROJECT
We were very excited to be invited to work on this project for many reasons, not least of which was being able to collaborate with the owner who is an accomplished Interior Designer with impeccable taste. She had a very simple vision – restore the house and property to its former glory.
The Italianate style house is one of only seven homes that overlook historic Congress Park in Saratoga Springs. The home was originally built in 1872 for the Shepherd family who owned it until 1902. It remained a private residence owned by various owners until 1942. Between 1942 and the early 70’s the house was owned by a number of institutions including Skidmore College. At some point the home was converted into a series of apartments. The current owners purchased the home in 2020 with a vision to bring the property back to its original splendor.
The house was more or less structurally sound but needed a major update. The roof was leaking, the interior had been cut up into a few different apartments, the kitchen dated back to the early 70’s and the property itself was completely overgrown with massive evergreen hedges and had only a dirt driveway.
Our client recognized the importance of assembling a comprehensive and collaborative design team that included her own interior design office, local architect Susan Davis from SD Atelier Architecture and the design and build team at Redbud.
GOALS & DESIRES/ DESIGN COMPONENTS
As with all projects, the first steps were to ascertain our clients goals for the house and property as a whole. Some of the specific priorities were:
- Blend visually and physically the interior of the home with the exterior environments considering views and privacy.
- Ease of access to the rear of the house with a minimum number of steps. This was important due to the mobility issues of a family member.
- Of particular importance, make sure the architecture of the original home was highlighted or accentuated and not hidden.
- Incorporate an addition off the rear of the house with a covered porch to allow for an appropriately sized kitchen for today’s style of living.
- Include a detached carriage-house style garage with parking for one car, storage space on the second floor and a small home gym.
- Incorporate an English style garden with a patio in the rear yard for entertaining and relaxing.
- Driveway car parking for at least three cars.
- Ability to turn vehicles around on the property to avoid backing out onto the busy street the house was on.
- Privacy from the neighbors on all sides.
CONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATION
The project was a masterclass in efficiency and how much function and detail can fit into a small footprint. The first design hurdle was to locate the carriage house on the property and relating it to the kitchen addition added to the rear of the house. These two structural elements took up a fair amount of real estate which meant we had to make sure we still had enough space to integrate the outdoor environments the owner desired. These included an oil and gravel driveway with granite curbing and detailing, stone pillars and automatic driveway gates, reclaimed bluestone walkways, bluestone patios with historic brick detailing, an outdoor kitchen with a simple masonry wall with a water feature, a dog run with synthetic turf and direct access to the house, a cornhole court, a raised herb garden, perimeter privacy fencing and custom-made wrought iron style accent fencing as well as landscape lighting for the ultimate finishing touch.
The multi-layered landscape scheme of the site features a backdrop of 16 ft Arborvitae along the three sides of the property, a specimen Weeping Nootka Cypress tree, a simple scheme of shrubs including Annabelle Hydrangea, boxwoods, holly hedges and numerous perennial planting beds and several large-scale imported planters with annuals to provide pops of color, textural dimension, and a bump in the lush factor. Finally, several sculptures situated around the property show off the personality of the homeowner.
BENEFITS/ LESSONS LEARNED
We overcame a number of challenges to make sure the project was successful. These included;
- The house is located in an historic district in Saratoga Springs and therefore the city’s Design Review Commission must review and approve plans prior to any proposed work.
- The house is located in an historic district in Saratoga Springs and therefore the city’s Design Review Commission must review and approve plans prior to any proposed work.
- We collaborated with the contractor responsible for renovating the house and interior and became a very efficient team with the ultimate goal of meeting the client’s vision.
- During construction, we discovered that the buried electrical service for the neighboring property to the north ran underneath the property. These lines had to be re-routed which required significant coordination.