Bowling Green Home & Lifestyle — December 2019

The Anderson A-Frame Renovation

Space Allocation: From Wish List to the Guest List

By Mary O'Toole·Photography by Joe Imel·As published in Bowling Green Home & Lifestyle·4 min read

The renovated A-Frame showing the new covered porch with twin exposed-truss gables, stacked-stone foundation, and fall foliage surround.

Thirty years ago when Tim Anderson broke ground on an A-Frame at the county line, he had no way of knowing that the sportsman’s hideaway he envisioned—would become an entirely different adventure. Tim met his wife Kim, and in time they became parents. The bachelor pad, turned family home was cozy and private, but as the years passed, the Anderson’s decided to make more room. They added a large combination living, kitchen, and dining area across the back, almost doubling the size of the main level.

The original A-Frame before the remodel: dark board-and-batten siding, a prominent stone chimney on the front elevation, a pitched roof with dormer windows, and landscaped front yard. — Before the remodel: the original front elevation. The stone chimney at right remains a fixed anchor; everything else about the front would change.

The remodeled front elevation: the same stone chimney is now recessed under the new covered porch roofline, with Hardy Board siding, synthetic cedar shake, and a three-quarter view of the new porch extending across the front. — After: the new covered porch extends across the front, sheltering the same stone chimney that anchored the original. Hardy Board and synthetic cedar shake replace the old cedar that drew woodpeckers and carpenter bees.

Of course, the kitchen is the heart of any home, and by relocating this important zone they inadvertently changed the entire circulation leaving to the dust bunnies what was once their cozy living room. “We found ourselves using the original part of the house as more of a pass-through, Kim explains. “Since we spend most of our time back here,” she says as she flips through images of their first remodel more than twenty years ago.

“We married 26 years ago, and I have wanted a covered porch for 26 years.”
— Kim Anderson, homeowner

More recently, the Andersons went through another life’s change. They became empty nesters and decided it might be time to show the A-Frame some love, reduce the endless upkeep and take the opportunity to make changes to the architectural palette. At the Home Expo in 2017, they met Certified Builder Tim Graham who would help them rearrange interior zones, find room they didn’t know they had, and deliver a fabulous new outdoor living space with uninterrupted views of the surrounding landscape.

The new covered porch’s exposed-truss ceiling looking out into autumn woods. — Kim had wanted a covered porch for twenty-six years. The new structure uses engineered beams with exposed white trusses, a vinyl beadboard ceiling, and opens onto uninterrupted views of the surrounding landscape.

Kim loves the way the covered porch extends the entire footprint in a way that an open-air deck never could. “We married 26 years ago and I have wanted a covered porch for 26 years,” she laughs. And Kim is not the only one who appreciates the difference. It truly may be the end of an era, as Tim Anderson reflects on summers spent, tools in hand, pulling, replacing, or repainting weathered decking. Building a home and then living in it for three decades allows ample time to figure out what’s working and what isn’t, but ultimately even homeowner’s “… don’t know what they don’t know,” says Kim. She felt sometimes that even sites like Pinterest were a poor substitute for conveying ideas clearly. Graham says that ultimately it’s the builder’s job is to make sure the client’s wish list and the final materials list are as close to identical as possible. He utilizes three-dimensional CAD that can map the process virtually at any particular phase. These renderings offer opportunities to make design decisions on paper instead of on the clock, and they are a way for client and craftsman to develop a working relationship, determine a budget, and aim toward the same goals. In the case of the Andersons, the renderings allowed Graham to identify opportunities where seemingly small decisions would add up to a lot more functional living. Ultimately, this ‘nip tuck” approach to the renovation paid dividends.

In the master bath, for example, Graham’s efficient new design accommodates a beautiful new shower space and an old-fashioned freestanding tub.

The original master bath: cramped aluminum-frame corner shower stall, dated vanity, small footprint. — Before: a cramped corner shower and dated fixtures in a tight 1300-square-foot footprint.

The remodeled master bath: clawfoot tub, subway tile walk-in shower, pony wall with glass panel, vintage-style vanity. — After: a new walk-in shower with bevel-edge subway tile sits beside an old-fashioned freestanding tub. A glass panel atop the pony wall lets the room read larger than its footprint.

Upstairs, these renderings proved even more useful. They allowed the builder to transform an under used powder room into a full bath. The previous remodel had missed this opportunity but 20 years later, a CAD became the touch point for a better utilization of space. “We found room we didn’t know we had,” explains the builder. Graham’s daughter, the newly married Kristen Hatler, grew up in the family business. On this project, she and designer Miranda West served as liaison between client and crew offering advice on ways to maximize the impact of interior finishes. The homeowners also appreciated expert advice from painter Ron Chadwick of Kentucky Brush and credited him with suggesting the dark stain and gray glaze used on the ceiling in the main room. “Surprise me,” Kim sometimes found herself saying. “And there really are surprises everywhere. The home feels like a little jewel that has been polished and put right. There is bevel-edge subway tile in the shower and retro hardware on the clawfoot tub. A glass panel mounted atop the pony wall allows the master bath to seem bigger than it actually is and a few favorite furnishings were either incorporated or repurposed to insure a link from one era to the next. These are contemporary interpretations of old-fashioned elements.

On the front of the house overlooking the lawn, Graham gave the homeowners an enclosed porch perfect for a cup of coffee, or a glass of iced tea, depending upon the mood. Kim selected her own decorative items here. Enamel finishes in checker stripes and a red barrel ceiling. Before Graham’s remodel, Kim claims this cozy little breakfast nook was merely “a door to nowhere.” In the main room, the staircase was relocated and rebuilt from the risers to the rail. The ceiling went from ordinary textured drywall to a lodge-style trim with a weathered stain and rustic beams. Windows were replaced and rearranged but the most dramatic part of the remodel is definitely the new porch. Using low-impact Hardy Board, vinyl beadboard, and engineered beams, Graham and crew delivered on a beautiful outdoor living space that puts to rest the question of whether or not these really are the good old days.

The main room after the remodel: vaulted ceiling with rustic beams and weathered stain, stone fireplace, staircase with wrought-iron balusters, L-sectional sofa. — The main room went from ordinary textured drywall to lodge-style trim with a weathered stain and rustic beams. The staircase was relocated and rebuilt from risers to rail.

The covered porch in use during autumn: dining and seating vignettes, colorful decor, fall foliage beyond the railings. — The covered porch in use. Low-maintenance TREX decking, Hardy Board siding, and engineered beams deliver an outdoor living space that — twenty-six years later — finally matches the view.