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2011 Master Design Award

This traditional Tudor style home located in Glencoe desperately needed updating to better accommodate the lifestyle of a young and active family.  Originally built in the 1920’s, the homeowners sought to add additional living space on the first and second floors that would seamlessly blend with the existing historic architecture.They began working with Normandy Designer Vince Weber to create the plans that would eventually become their newly remodeled home.  “The original layout of the house was typical in many ways of what one finds in vintage homes,” says Vince.  “The homeowners wanted to ensure that the charm of these spaces was not diminished with the addition and that the whole house would blend seamlessly once completed.”One of the family’s requests was to enlarge the kitchen to create a multi-functional space that would allow for better cooking functionality, eating, entertaining, and doing homework.  The family also wanted an informal gathering area that was connected to the kitchen but still defined as a separate room.  A new powder room, home office and mudroom on the first floor and a true master suite on the second floor rounded out the changes that brought 21^st century amenities and spaces to this lovely older home.

Normandy Designer Vince Weber understood that in a renovation of this type, the success of the project would involve a great deal of focus on the details. “Careful consideration of scale and proportion of these new rooms was paramount in keeping the project true to the home’s original compartmentalized design,” says Vince. “In addition to feeling proportionate, these new spaces needed to mimic the details of the existing home that included dark stained millwork, decorative beams, rich hardwood floors, and antique light fixtures.”  The exterior details received the same special attention with matching clay tile chimney caps, a smooth stucco exterior, cedar trim detailing and copper gutters and downspouts.

The resulting project so seamlessly blends the old and new spaces, that it is virtually impossible to tell which part of the home was original and which is the addition.  The successful updating of this vintage home enhanced, rather than diminished, the antique nature of the home and was recognized nationally by industry peers with a 2011 Master Design Award.