Natural Transitions – Project

Mount Kisco, New York

Located in a quite suburb, an hour north of New York City, this home sits comfortably away from the street. A small creek at the bottom of a ravine, 120 feet from the back door, marks the boundary of the Choate Audubon Sanctuary.

Our challenge was that the floor plan had some awkward spaces and turned inward, without taking advantage of its potentially stunning landscape. The site was somewhat overgrown, but held great potential.

Our design opened the floor plan, providing expanded views and access to the landscape. The existing plan, had a music room, a family room, a hallway, laundry, half bath, and kitchen along the back of the house, with a wall separating each. There was a back deck accessible only from the hallway. Below are the old plan and photos.

In our new plan we open the music room to the family room, remove the hallway, move the laundry downstairs and the half bath to the foyer, and remove the wall separating the kitchen. We moved the stove and upper cabinets to the other side of the kitchen, actually expanding the counter space, and added a bar height counter above the sink towards the family room. We brought in 18×18 inch saltillo tile from Mexico and laid it on a 45 degree angle so it would unify the rooms, and express flow around corners. We replaced the windows that were in the kitchen and family room, with sliding patio doors opening out onto a large deck. At the opening to the music room we added full width stairs and resurfaced the fireplace with tinted conrete and drwall, and a mantle to match the kitchen. The old doorway to the back was replaced with a fixed picture window.

We were also working with the elevations, to tie the house into the landscape. The music room is 3 steps above the main floor, the deck is 3 steps down from the main floor, and the grade is 4 steps below the deck, which flows gently down to the creek.

The new view from the entry:

The new kitchen:

The new family room:

The new exterior paint color and New York blue stone entry:

The ravine after cleaning the overgrowth, adding mulch pathways and new deck:

If you would like our services in redesigning your house, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Tags: bathrooms, conceptual design, construction documents, custom furniture, deck, design build, design development, interiors, kitchens, landscape, oak floors, paint, project management, renovation, residential construction, residential design, saltillo, skylight, tung oil