Two-Faced House

Michael Goorevich Architect, PLLC

The clients, young newlyweds at the time, requested design services for a ground up modern home. But after a discussion regarding costs, took our recommendation to instead renovate a 1950’s ranch house. With their bifurcated front and back organization and access to services from above and below, it’s relatively easy to update these ranches to become more responsive to modern living. In the case of this project, we proposed an addition in the form of a house-long ‘bay window’ overlooking the yard and landscape beyond. This arrangement afforded the opportunity to present two types of facades. On the front of the house, we reorganized the openings but kept the spirit of the original ranch facade. Private spaces were located along this side of the home. On the rear we relocated the remaining public spaces and new covered porches. At the kitchen, we raised the ceiling to capture the underutilized attic space. One issue with a typical ranch is their unrelenting eight foot tall ceilings and small window openings. With the raised ceiling we could now add a large window to the end of the home bringing light and view deep into the space. This window above the cooktop creates an interior ‘destination’. In this way the home maintains privacy and anonymity facing the street while opening the interior to the bravado and transparency of a wood/ glass pavilion along the rear facade.