Old Bones Make The Best Home

When these homeowners moved from their lake home in Shawano to an over-100-year-old house in Madison, they were expecting to do some updates. What was not on their minds was living through a gut job as something truly apropos of their lifestyles was created around them. Thanks to the vision and experience of DreamHouse DreamKitchens, the wait and results were worth it.

Though the job had windows replaced throughout, most of the focus was on the back end, where a previous addition had become an inspection nightmare and a walk on the second-floor deck meant “you were taking your life into your own hands,” says Rachael Parker, designer at DreamHouse DreamKitchens. “Everything really needed to be updated. The kitchen was not even really usable; the powder bath needed updating. It needed life put into it and a lot of sprucing.”

In addition, over the short time the homeowners lived at their new residence, they realized they needed a primary suite. Instead of rebuilding the deck, they would extend the upstairs portion of the house to accommodate a bedroom and walk-in closet. An Arts & Craft–inspired home, the theme and integrity could remain alongside some updates in flow and function.

Blake Hebert, designer at DreamHouse DreamKitchens, says of the restructuring, “Doing construction to a house of this age, once you take the lath and plaster off and expose the structure, you are like, ‘Oh, that is not supposed to be there.’ We had to take the whole bathroom floor out and reframe everything because it was undersized. … Some specific engineering had to be done to add the room on top. It was not just building a room on top of that old deck; it was ripping all that off and reengineering it so we could do our cantilevers—we could tie to the existing house.”

After construction, a stunning reimagining of the existing and new spaces provides a breath of fresh air. The rear entryway leads into the kitchen, where the mudroom has been converted into a cozy breakfast nook. Moving the refrigerator, disguised with matching cabinet faces, morphs the room into an “L” shape. And a butcher block countertop provides a workstation, so two people can comfortably prepare food at the same time.

White quartz countertops round over to an undermount Kohler Whitehaven apron-front sink. Asymmetry being a hallmark of Arts & Craft design, the sink sits off-center of the window run. “We did center it on just one pane of the window versus the whole window,” says Rachael. “It gives you more of a visual purpose because you can see through it. The homeowners are not looking into a mullion.”

The kitchen also introduces a lighter wood element to add texture to the house’s darker wood motif. The wooden range hood, underlit floating shelves, and butcher block countertop act visually as highlights, transitioning from the darker trim.

Next to the kitchen is the powder room, which features a penny tile floor that helps set the space apart from the kitchen while paying “homage to the age of the house,” says Rachael. “Then we went with a decorative wainscot paneling with wallpaper above.” As the tastes of the homeowners are reflected in the wallpaper, the board-and-batten wainscoting is meant to marry their style to the design of the home. New paint on the radiator accentuates the home’s graceful age.

Above the kitchen and powder room is the newly framed primary suite. Since the bathroom was part of the existing structure, the layout was also reimagined. “This is the only bathroom that could fit on this level of the house,” says Rachael. “So it was really important to get two sinks, the toilet, linen storage, and a full walk-in shower.” A sleek black frame around the mirror is subtle, yet classy; the penny tile shower ties in with the powder room; and the spa-blue shower brings a fun and relaxing energy to the space.

The bedroom fits right in with nods to the age of the house, like the brick on the fireplace matching the entryway, while keeping with the homeowners’ love of blue. Given this room is entirely new to the house, there were a lot of layout options. “With city lots, views are at a premium,” says Blake. “There were a couple ways we could have oriented the windows, but we really wanted to focus our view into the neighbor’s backyard.”

Rachael and Blake were quick to note how patient the homeowners were living in the house throughout construction. As excited as the homeowners were to get to the end of the project, ensuring time is taken to get everything done correctly was paramount. Their reward is something part history, part them, and all home.