The reinvention of this 1908 summer home in Fairfield County, Connecticut, was all about preserving its traditional character while reconfiguring it for year-round use. Designed in the Colonial Revival style by the prominent New York City firm of Carrère and Hastings, it evoked happy memories for the wife, who grew up there.

On the first floor, the program called for expanded informal living spaces that include a large eat-in kitchen, family room, breakfast room and butler’s pantry. On the second floor, we designed an enlarged primary bedroom suite and a guest suite, along with laundry, utility and service spaces. Two additional guest suites were designed in unfinished attic space, while two more were created in the expanse above a pair of two-car garages. We also developed the basement and sub-basement levels to feature a dine-in wine room, game room, media room, gym and indoor pool. Among the landscape improvements are a new driveway and parking court, brick and bluestone walks and terraces, a pool, an outdoor kitchen, and a pavilion with a bathroom and changing room. In all, we added approximately 9,000 square feet to the original structure.

Given our ambitious objectives, we divided the project into three phases. The first phase encompassed the renovation of the home’s central block. Once that was completed, the owners, who were just as invested in actualizing our vision as we were, moved back into the house while the old kitchen wing was demolished and rebuilt. The second phase saw the construction of an expanded service wing. The final phase comprised the landscape work and accessory buildings.

This project was different from most. Design and construction was completed over the course of seven years, which meant that we forged a lifelong bond with the owners as well as the house. We have no doubt that our shared commitment to excellence and sensitivity to maintaining a sense of time and place was key to its success.