Page 59 - AIA_Summer_2017

ArchDC Summer 2017.qxp_Summer 2017 5/24/17 10:52 AM Page 57

time of steel—which can substitute for the entry hall bench in
nice weather.
Years of living in a house under renovation would be too
much for most people, but these owners had done so for several
previous residences, and this time, they hired a general contractor
instead of doing the work themselves. One advantage of the
lengthy timeline, noted Dorman, is that they could keep an eye
for sales on selected and desired fixtures and fittings. This saved
considerable money.
Over time, a modus operandi emerged. Dorman proposed various
plan refinements. The husband would pick candidates for the
finishes and fittings; the wife would cull these down. The remaining
choices were reviewed by Dorman, whose role, often, was to
“reign in” the husband’s ideas, he says, which might include
things like entirely different ceiling fans for each rooms. “It was
very collaborative,” said Dorman, “and very fun. The fun part of
design is all the what-ifs and options, and [this client] always
produced lots of things for consideration.”
Most of the house’s historical character remains, from the
frilly Victoriana that witnessed the Trimbles’ society parties to an
area of blackened wood flooring, believed to be the char remaining
from a fire set during the 1968 riots. New elements include four
windows added between the stair hall and an inboard office, the
green steel frame in the rear yard, and the sleek cabinetry (much of
it from IKEA). The roof required almost complete reconstruction;
the decision was made to pull third floor ceilings up to the roof
height, leaving former joist pockets exposed in the unfinished brick
walls. Replacement of the roof allowed the addition of multiple Second floor office, with repurposed sliding doors
skylights, with new sculpted ceilings, including a scalloped form in a new track making the machinery visible.
reminiscent of the shiplap wood details.
The result of this is a calmly eclectic house, brimming with the
personalities of current owners and past residents. One delightful
Steel frame in the rear yard supporting
detail combines old and new: paneled pocket doors, previously a new upper-level deck.
separating the kitchen and stair hall, were re-employed as surface-
mounted sliding doors (or “barn doors”) at the inboard office.
The doors and their original wheel guides were restored and
set into a new track that Dorman designed. It’s a practical and
straightforward reuse of a historic element, in which formerly
hidden inner working are exposed and celebrated.
Like Glenn Brown’s ornamental homage to the Ewans
women, Dorman’s thoughtful and creative weaving of old
and new throughout the project is ultimately more than just an
aesthetic endeavor: it tells a story about the people who make
this their home.

HOUSE OF FOUR BELLS 57