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into the family study until 2013, when the project was completed. A study sits in the exact loca- tion of the old garage, several steps down from the kitchen. The front of the house faces south, and Roberts saw this as a great opportunity to bring light into the home. He added French doors and sidelites, and had the doors swing outward to offer more interior space for fur- niture arrangement. The doors lead to the new pocket patio. A limestone planter helps screen the patio from the front side- walk and interrupts the street view into the study. Three col- umns of durable high-density fiberglass brace a trellis of low- maintenance, high-density PVC that extends 3 ft. out from the study room's exterior wall. "I wanted to visually break up the space with the planter so the eye doesn't follow a straight line and remind neighbors that the space used to be a garage," Roberts remarks. "The trellis imparts interest with a nice patterning of light across the front of the house and shades the glass on the French doors." Because the trellis' 12-ft. joists were too long for the PVC to support itself, the company's carpenter reinforced the struc- ture by sandwiching steel inside the members. Replacing the for- mer driveway with lawn accom- plished the village of Wilmette's goals for pervious surfaces and allowed the house to command more of the site. Understanding that straight lines tend to cut spaces in half but curvilinear lines guide lines of sight inward, Roberts curved the new walkway leading to the front door and installed a curving garden retain- ing wall in front of the house. STRATEGIC PLOYS The previous owners had not taken good care of the house and the exterior was beginning to deteriorate. Rotting wood, sloping of the front porch's roof, the faux balcony, peeling paint, cracking stone veneer, and a disintegrating back deck marked the home's condition. The house also needed a new roof. All the houses in the cul-de- sac had a similar Williamsburg/ Colonial style with wide wood plank siding with stone veneer facings. It was important to not disrupt the visual consistency of the neighborhood. "As an architect, you walk a thin line between complementa- ry and contrasting elements. We wanted to maintain the style but give the house a fresh look with its own character," Roberts says. The original stone veneer was an orange hue that greatly lim- ited harmonious color choices for the siding. Roberts helped select a more neutral Fond du Lac stone quarried in Wisconsin for the new veneer, which set the stage for a more attractive color scheme. All new cement board sid- ing with a pre-finished exterior paint in a Woodland Cream yel- low hue and white trim bright- ened the home's façade. Another significant change was the removal of a strangely elongated octagonal window that was oddly aligned between two other windows. From the inside, the window's placement was important. The octagonal window was at the top of the second floor landing but sat slightly lower than the stairwell the result was passersby could see the home's occupants. "We honestly struggled with that window," Roberts recalls. "It didn't balance with anything else, and we considered elimi- nating it. But we wanted to keep the light, so we replaced it with a similar rectangular window that we lined up to create more privacy. The new placement also allowed us to bring the wainscot up and around to complete the second-floor landing." All windows on the house were changed out for alumi- num-clad, high–efficiency Low E insulated glass windows that were pre-finished in white on their interior sides. WELCOME APPROACH In the original home's plan, the foyer was tight. The owners were keen to expand the foyer and create a more gracious entry to the house. Roberts doubled the size of the foyer by adding 49 sq. ft. and replacing the faux balcony with a portico project- ing 5½ ft. from the front door. He reused the front door and pilaster columns, bringing the columns forward to create a rectangular porch. Now, the owner's children have a true porch where they can gather with their neighborhood friends, and visitors are invited through a welcoming entry. QR KJ Fields writes from Portland, Ore., about remodeling and design. ONLINE BONUS See more before and after pictures at ForResidentialPros.com/ 11517716 ForResidentialPros.com QR July 2014 25 The existing one-car garage was too small to suit the homeowner's lifestyle. COMPANY INFORMATION Roberts Architects and Construction, Evanston, Ill. robertsarchitectsltd.com Full-time employees: 7 Average annual revenue: $1.7 million Annual remodeling projects: 27 Residential: 95 percent Single-family: 100 percent Desgin-build: 100 percent PROJECT INFORMATION Wilmette Home Makeover, Wilmette, Ill. Completed: May 2013 Square footage before: 2,934 Square footage after: 2,983 Project cost: $236,000 PRODUCT INFORMATION Roofing: Asphalt shingle Siding: James Hardie Stone veneer: Buechel Stone Corp. Doors and windows: Marvin Locksets and hardware: Marvin and Emtek Engineered lumber: LVL beam Insulation: Owens Corning Paint/stain: James Hardie Siding Color Plus Trellis: Azek Photo: Patsy McEnroe Photographer Before QUR_24-25_Exterior714.indd 25 6/30/14 1:59 PM