Remodel Returns 1880s Seaside B&B to Single-Family Use

Barnes Vanze Architects

Project Details

Project Name: Remodel Returns 1880s Seaside B&B to Single-Family Use

Location: Washington ,
DC

Project Types: Single Family

Project Scope: Renovation/Remodel ,
Adaptive Reuse

Year Completed: 2012

Awards: 2012 Remodeling Design Awards

Consultants: General Contractor: Mark Sweeney,

Anthony Barnes,
William Wheeler

Project Status: Built

Cost: $301,000

Room or Space: Kitchen

Project Description

Priorities

Return a bed and breakfast to its original use as a single-family home
Enhance water views
Gut and rebuild damaged portions of the structure

Solutions

This 1880s summer cottage near Bar Harbor, Maine, had been used as a bed and breakfast for decades until new owners asked architect Anthony Barnes to help transform it back into a single-family home. The home’s footprint could not be enlarged due to shoreline protection restrictions, but that footprint included additions made over the years that were now unsound, not easily accessible from the main house, and blocked sea views. Crews created larger arched openings to the kitchen and dining room by cutting through the 2-foot-thick stone walls. Second story additions provide a master suite.

Judges’ Comments

The jury praised the architects’ strategy, which dramatically transformed the floor plan while remaining faithful to the intent of the home’s original design. “One of its strongest attributes is that it makes the most of its setting,” one judge said.