Gallery
Tudor Revival
What began as a tattered and rapidly disintegrating nondescript little 756-square-foot 1940s-era house was transformed into a tidy two-story three-bedroom three-bath 1,771-square-foot exquisitely detailed Tudor Revival cottage reminiscent of early 1920s America. That description alone is a mouthful; you should have been there for the hammering.
First, the style. Tudor Revival is a charming, fairytale architecture and one of our all-time favorite styles. Consider the elements in the instant case:
- Steeply pitched 14/12 roofline with hip-on-gable ends
- Gabled front-entry vestibule
- Rounded-top mahogany plank front door with strap hinges
- Natural cedar-shingle siding and classic trim details
- Three-tone paint scheme in historic hues
- Rustic stone porch and meandering path
Sweet. But let's back up and fill in a little background on this monumental makeover.
Although the original house was vintage 1942, restoration was not the remotest option. Even brand spanking new, it was never anything more than a very modest, unadorned little box, and the intervening years had not been kind. But although the existing house was entirely unremarkable, it was splendidly situated, high atop a highly prized hilltop neighborhood with panoramic saltwater and mountain views.
In the beginning, a hovel
This combination of circumstances added up to an intriguing proposition: not to restore this shabby little shack but to create a new "old" house on its very worthy lot—and do so in a style we had been longing to try. Still, this undertaking presented a number of significant challenges and took some effort to get all the details ironed out.
To the local building department, it was technically a remodel but in truth this undertaking was closer to 95% new construction, with precious little of the original structure surviving. After all the work was finished and all the dust had settled, though, we think we ended up with quite a spectacular little jewel, another new "old" house for the ages.
And, once again, keeping faith with that early-twentieth-century tradition of naming house designs, and in honor of a dignified old friend, a dear blue-eyed aristocrat no longer with us, we lovingly christened this one the "Bentley."
The floor plans
The footprint of the original structure, a single-story 756-square-foot house, was a simple rectangle. Because the lot offered great views from a nonexistent second story, we decided to add one. We also added a small gabled front-entry vestibule, a common feature in the Tudor Revival style, and appended a modest addition on the rear of the house to create the extra space needed for more bedrooms.
Floor Plan, Main Floor
Floor Plan, Upstairs
We must admit that it took a fair amount of head scratching to come up with a workable floor plan, one that would both respect the old-house sensibilities yet still provide an excellent traffic flow that any modern functional home demands.
All in all, we think our solution came out a real winner, a comfortable and flowing interior layout to complement a classic exterior design.
The "Chopin"
The inspiration
As is our wont, all of our house designs begin with a vintage inspiration, and the Bentley was no exception.
In the typical scenario, in which we are building from the ground up, we select a style and then follow the authentic instances as closely as possible to more faithfully capture the spirit of the chosen period and style. However, when remodeling, things get a bit trickier.
Loizeaux Design No. 14140-B
In this case, we had to accommodate both the existing footprint and the limitations of the small lot, requiring that we summon a little extra creativity to make it all work.
So we began with a stack of old planbooks and narrowed down the possibilities to a a couple of examples that we not only liked but that would also work within our limited parameters.
The inspiration houses that we chose are two distinct but similar English-style Tudor Revival cottage designs that showcase many of the classic elements we are so fond of. Both are house plans from the 1920s that were sold by the Loizeaux Lumber Company of Plainfield, New Jersey. The first is called the "Chopin," and the second is an unnamed design referred to simply as "Loizeaux Design No. 14140-B" (quite the romantic, that Loizeaux). Beauties both, we think, and with any luck we have captured something of their essense and charm in our version, the Bentley—you be the judge.
