This is one of CTA’s more transformative projects, changing a cramped, dark townhouse into a contemporary light-filled home that still maintains its essential character. The needs were similar to many of our projects: a dark and badly laid out kitchen, inadequate storage, no laundry, and too few bathrooms. The unexpected solution to the problems lay in removing the secondary “servant stair” which ran from basement to the second floor.  Once removed there was space for a pantry, laundry, and mechanical space on the first floor, while an efficient ¾ bath fit on the second floor.  Previously the second floor housed a very large bathroom (and the home’s only full bath).  With the new ¾ bath in place, the oversized bathroom was turned into a much-needed guest bedroom.  On the 3rd floor the primary bedroom was upgraded to primary suite with the addition of an ensuite bathroom, complete with a wet room with a Japanese soaking tub, that was carved out of the primary closet and a bit of an adjacent bedroom.  The lost closet was replaced with space-efficient built-in cabinetry.  The existing 3/4 bathroom got a facelift, with new tile, wallpaper, and sconces.

The biggest change is on the ground level, where the cramped dark kitchen is transformed.  The massive antique brick fireplace had dominated and overwhelmed the space, but it’s now a feature, painted white, with space on either side utilized for a hidden TV, kids craft storage, and a bar next to the dining room.  The small footprint is unchanged, but a new layout allows uninterrupted workspace with separate seating at the peninsula, complete with drawers for placemats, pencils, and kids drawings.  A clever coffee storage area is tucked in a corner, and a small slot accommodates dining table leaves – no space is left unutilized.  Clean and simple cabinets, white with pulls in unlacquered brass, are both modern with a nod to historic materials. Finally, the gorgeous front stair gets a facelift with a new stenciled floor, with a similar pattern and colorway in the concrete tiles in the rear.  The entire building also received new windows sized to fit the original openings, which had been closed in with smaller replacement windows over the years.