This year we have seen a lot of home renovationand addition projects. These are exciting projects to design because we get to make our clients’ existing homes into their dream homes. We hear about what is not working and come up with ways to make them fit the lives our clients want to live in the places they already call home. The return on investment for these types of projects is critical. In this case, “return on investment” means that the space directly contributes to making the existing home into their dream home.
Some of the best payback on investment can be seen with kitchen renovations. An updated, beautiful, and highly functional timeless kitchen is the heart of the home for most of our projects. Getting the cabinets and cabinet hardware to look great and have a high-quality finish is key to making the most of your investment. Figuring out how to make the space as functional as possible for the way you want to cook, entertain, and gather is the most important part of this design work.
Similarly, the bathroom remodel has a high impact on an existing house. Upgrading the lighting, flooring, tiles, and shower can make all the difference when thinking about your dream home. Adding body sprayers and an adjustable shower head can make the bathroom future proof for you and spa like on the daily. Thinking through accessibility challenges that might happen is also an important part of this space.
Upgrades and Updates
Important, but not always on top of mind, are energy-efficiency, durability, and indoor-air-quality upgrades and updates. Often in existing homes you already know the products that were used that need a coat of paint every year. You know which room is always cold in the winter. When you are doing a renovation, be sure to fix those issues, then track your energy usage. You will be thrilled to save money monthly. More importantly, you will have comfortable spaces that have healthy indoor air quality, and you will not have to “honey-do” home improvements every weekend with these new durable products.
Another idea to make your home remodel the best investment possible is to make it look incredible from the street. Update the landscaping with native plants, scrape and repaint anything that is peeling (or replace old siding with something low maintenance), and make sure the water is going away from the foundation. Adding a deck, patio, or porch is also an easy way to expand your livable space and provide an aesthetic update to a home. These spaces will become favorites if they are placed in the right way around your house to take advantage of the breeze, provide shade, and offer additional gathering options. Don’t forget about adding an outdoor kitchen to bring the party to the outside of your home.
When you are thinking about a renovation or addition to your home, make the return on investment a part of the decision-making process. This does not mean just doing things that will increase the sale price of your home, it is the quality of life that can be provided through the renovation that provides the best return on investment. Do the things that make your home your dream home.
We are hearing from a lot of people that want to stay in their current home but need to make a few changes to get it just right. It’s a great time to start planning your renovation as builders are planning for the remainder of their year. So I thought I would share some upgrades you might want to consider for your home.
Home upgrades to consider
1. Kitchens are a common place to start working on your home. You can improve the function of your space while upgrading your aesthetics. As the kitchen has become the heart of many homes, this can also have a great impact on daily family gatherings. This historic home needed an addition to get their light and open kitchen to work while maintaining the historic character of their home.
2. While doing a renovation, it is always a good idea to look at energy upgrades to improve comfort and lower your energy bills.
3. Create an accessible home so that life’s changes will not prevent you from staying in the home you love. Door widths, kitchen function, first-floor bedrooms, and roll-in showersare just some of the aging-in-place ideas you could focus on during a renovation.
4. Getting organized in your mudroom is often another added change when we have the opportunity to renovate lifetime homes.
5. Adding a “game” room for this home was an important part of the project as our client needed a place to display their trophies.
6. As we start to think about spring weather, I know a lot of people will start dreaming of new decks and patios.
We have designed solutions for new home office space, storage closets, first-floor bedrooms, basement family rooms, and more. The first step of the design process for a renovation is to record what you like, don’t like, and what challenges you have with your existing home. Then give us a call and we can help balance your dreams with your budget with what your home can offer.
In an earlier post, I talked about my interview with a client about why old homes are worth saving, and he took me on a tour to share the history while pointing out details. In our interview, our client highlighted the importance of restoring old buildings because “[they] are tangible elements of history,” and emphasized that seeing history in the physical and visual is much more enjoyable than reading it on paper.
He was absolutely right. During the tour of their home that was first built in 1822, I found myself getting more and more excited about history, especially of historic buildings. Seeing history in-person instead of just reading text connected me to the stories much more than I had before.
All that said, it is ironic that I’m writing about how seeing history in physical form connected me to it much more than reading about the history. To combat the irony just a bit, below are photos with tidbits from our interview and tour.
Photo details of our client’s house
After the Revolutionary War, some Hessian mercenaries (recruited from Germany to fill the British ranks) were left on the continent. They brought some German design elements/heritage with them which blended over time with emerging American preferences. You can see this in the hand carvings and style of the mantles (6 were fireplaces in the house, some restored now).
Downstairs by the kitchen there’s a china cabinet that the current owners painted dark green in keeping with the old color scheme. But if you look inside, you can see the old paint which is a brighter green – more of a lime green. This color was popular among German settlers, including Mennonites, Lutherans, and others who included that color as they moved down into the Shenandoah area from Central Pennsylvania.
Remnants of the lime-green paint are also on this door.
Round brick columns, typical to the time period.
Throughout the years, larger rooms were sectioned off into smaller ones, like the Great Room. They can tell where the Great Room was because the boards are perfectly aligned between a couple existing rooms. Uniform board lengths with no cuts was a symbol of status, which would have been put in the Great Room.
The milk paint on the detailing in this room is mulberry colored. This seems to be a popular color of milk paint for the time.
There isn’t written history of this, but it’s been passed down orally that a cannonball broke this upstairs window.
Builders numbered the attic timber beams with carved roman numerals so they would know the order to put them in when they hauled them to the house.
Wooden pegs in the attic to secure the beams together.
A hanging stepped flue in the attic – a very unique element.
Just for fun. As a photographer, I always love when furry friends come to say hello in my shoots.
Finally, here are a few more pictures from my photoshoot of our client’s porch after the historical porch renovation.
In the fall, I had the pleasure of meeting with a client for an interview about why we should save old buildings.
We first met our client when he brought us an old picture of their home, first built in 1822. Over the years, pieces had been added on, torn down, and altered, so the existing house no longer had the same porch shown in the picture. Our presented challenge then was to recreate a combination of the existing and the old porch from the photograph. I knew that our client had a passion for historic buildings, so I visited to learn more about his thoughts on old homes and restoration.
During the interview, I was welcomed inside the home to receive a tour of the historic details. I was fascinated. I came into the interview with a mild appreciation for history and left with interest in more of a tangible and emotional way. The passion for restoration and details was infectious.
I learned a great deal about the history of the home and details throughout the house – too many to put in short blog form. However, our client’s response to “Why should we save old buildings?” is poignant and does a beautiful job of summing up our conversation.
Why should we save old buildings?
“An old house torn down is lost forever. Old houses are tangible elements of history. Not many people enjoy history on paper in library archives or summarized in sterilized textbooks. But old homes are tangible and intimate evidence of hardship, war, farming, community, and visibly seeing artistic and pragmatic elements of pioneering families. It is the difference between a replica quilt or the old original, stitched by hand in candlelight, seeing careful but irregular stitching, and one’s imagination can connect with past generations. One would not think much about Hessian mercenaries fighting for Britain during the war of 1812, but upon losing the war, the mercenaries were left to fend for themselves in the new land, and some took up wood carving, and our carved fireplaces are memorials to that small bit of overlooked history. Old houses preserve intimate details of children’s scribbles, of successive changes over time as needs changed. Old houses are like museum outposts scattered in our neighborhoods.”
The complexity of history
Though the house and stories are beautiful, our client also pointed out the complexity of history and reasons why buildings exist. Part of the history of this home in particular is that in ~ 1740, a man bought the land near a couple of forts and fortified his home. This man’s view about the Native Americans of the area was extreme, and he wanted them killed. Part of the story is that much of the land of Virginia was inhabited by people who were forcibly displaced and killed. All of this history is woven into the origin story of buildings too, and it’s important that it is noted.
In this relatively short history of the U.S., it was unique to be able to hear stories passed down through writings and oral traditions of this area. I’m grateful for clients willing to share their passions and to let us be a part of what they dream up.
We have been so busy over the last month we failed to post photos from our big party! Here is the press release and some photos from the event.
Gaines Group Architects moves firm headquarters to renovated historic Harrisonburg train station.
The Gaines Group, PLC, Architects is pleased to announce the relocation of its firm headquarters to the historic Chesapeake Western Railroad Depot in the heart of Harrisonburg, Virginia. This milestone marks multiple points of celebration for the firm. Over the last 37 years this business has grown from a one-person operation to a thriving two-location small architectural firm serving communities across four states including Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. In the last 15 years it has experienced a substantial increase in the number and average size of projects and has doubled the size of the firm. This year Raymond Gaines and Charles Hendricks were joined by Paul Tassell, Adrienne Stronge, Deborah Smith, and James Halstead as principals, thus increasing the businesses’ resilience. The firm is celebrating sixnewhires who bring a diverse set of talents to the organization. Providing architectural services for a project base that includes custom residential, multi-family residential, industrial, educational, commercial, renovation, child care, and more has allowed the firm to continue to grow in spite of the COVID pandemic.
Charles attributes the firm’s growth to its focus on design that creates a better future for all. He says, “Our focus is to find ways to build a stronger community for everyone. We do this through our projects, designing sustainable solutions into every project. We use design strategies that are durable, energy-efficient, and healthy that not only benefit our client, but the community as a whole. We also seek out organizations in our communities that we can partner with and support through volunteer efforts to further this goal. From our work on boards and commissions, to giving our time and skills, we want our legacy to be one of caring for others, the environment, and our collective future.“
On The Road Collaborative students with Asha and Charles
The Gaines Group has had a long-standing partnership with On The Road Collaborative and we could not be more excited to be a part of it again this year! On the Road Collaborative (OTRC) is an organization that gives middle and high-school students educational and hands-on opportunities outside of school, and their commitment to the youth and community, both in the future and in the here and now, is inspiring.
Throughout the years, we have participated in many opportunities with students, including a class on architecture as a career option to Skyline middle-schoolers that was led by Deborah and Charles in 2016 and a sustainable farm house tour in partnership with Eric Beck with Beck Builders. This year, Deborah is teaching another class about architecture called Design Hive to middle-schoolers from Skyline Middle School.
In this class, they’ll be learning about what architecture is and how it affects our communities and day to day lives. They’ll also learn the process of becoming an architect and what an architect does by going through the design process and understanding the thoughts and decisions that go into designing a building.
This week, we hosted these students at the Depot, our office building. Here Charles gave a tour to talk about the rich history of the building that used to be a railroad station. He showed them the many items, sketches, and photos that we have preserved here, as well as details of structural preservation: sections of floor that are different colors, charred doorframes, and old windows without panes. The students enjoyed interacting with the window especially, as you can see below.
Looking through the old pane-less window. Touring the structure outside.
Deborah is also structuring the class so that in the second half of the session, students will get a taste of what a college architecture studio class might be like. Students will work to create a neighborhood of houses designed by them. This neighborhood project is based on a similar project that her studio worked on during her time at Virginia Tech. They’ll draw out plans of their houses and then make cardboard models to see the neighborhood in 3D. We can’t wait to see what they create!
Design is everywhere, and whether or not each participating student decides to go into an architectural or design field, we hope that the experience enriches their understanding of how design impacts their daily lives. Awareness of this can be applicable to any field, and we’re grateful to OTRC for giving us this opportunity to meet these bright students from the community and pass on some of this knowledge. Check out their website to see how you can get more involved with OTRC!
