Starting Over, Together - Peregrine Design Build

Story by Jordan Werner
Photos by Susan Teare
vermont h ome s an d garde n s
Starting Over, Together
New beginnings for an old cape
I
Dave Thomas’s house (left, as
it originally was) had a great
location but needed a complete
redux. Peregrine Design/Build
treated the somewhat outdated,
frumpy-looking structure to a
complete makeover that yielded
outstanding results in a relatively
short amount of time. Key to the
success of the rebuilding effort
was making better use of interior
space and bringing in more light
through larger, better-situated
windows.
58
march / april 2013
didn’t wa nt to r eco g n i ze
the house,” said Annie Clark as she
pulled out the “before” photos of
the house she now shares with Dave
Thomas. Annie and Dave were starting
a new part of their lives together, and
they both wanted that start to be a fresh
one. Their children had grown up and
headed off to college, and the couple decided it was finally time for them to live
in the same house.
“It was sort of an unusual situation,” said Annie, “We have been together for a while but we had different
parenting styles and didn’t think that
aspect of our lives would work together.
So we waited.” When the time finally
came, the couple had two separate houses and no real idea of what to do with
them. Should they sell both houses and
start somewhere new? Thanks in part to
its mountainside location in Richmond,
the couple decided to shape Dave’s
house into something they could share.
“The house [looked like it] could have
been plunked into any South Burlington
development. We wanted it to feel like
it was more a part of its environment
and worthy of such a great valley view,”
explained Dave. The couple realized
that it would make the most sense to
sell Annie’s house and pour the money
into remodeling Dave’s house. “It was a
tough decision,” Annie joked, “My CPA
told me to keep my house in case things
didn’t work out!”
As they began the process of remodeling, both Dave and Annie noticed the
stress of trying to contract each small
project they thought of without an overreaching plan. Annie happened to see an
ad for Peregrine, a design/build firm in
South Burlington, and brought it to Dave,
saying, “Can’t we just call Peregrine?”
V e r m o n t M a g a z i n e 5 9
The old living room looked dark and dismal (right) and got a complete makeover. Many of the
materials used in the remodeling came from local sources. The bluestone on the new living room
fireplace came from Cleary Stone Company in Richmond, the poured-concrete kitchen counters
from Red Concrete in Burlington, and marble components from Burlington Marble & Granite.
Dave and Annie then met Cliff
Deetjen, an experienced member of Peregrine’s team, who told the couple to
make a wish list. “Fill it with glamorous
ideas or small ideas—we will do our best
to make them feasible. Not everything
on the list will be possible now, but may
fit in 5 or 10 years down the road,” said
Cliff. He took Dave and Annie on a field
trip to a variety of houses. They would
point out layouts they liked and doorknobs they didn’t. “When you share
time in a car, you get to know the client
outside the confines of their remodel. It
also makes it very clear what they don’t
like,” said Cliff. From what he learned
on the field trip, Cliff started his designs.
He makes deliberate, hand-drafted sche60
march / april 2013
matic designs rather than using drafting
technology because he values the time it
makes him spend studying the project.
“When you offer professional designs,
you create a nest and help a couple like
Annie and Dave re-create their lives together,” commented Cliff.
The work began in February 2010
and the couple moved into the redone
space in July. At the beginning of the
remodel, Cliff, Dave, and Annie did
a walk-through with the builders and
plumbers who would be working on
the project. They discussed the budget,
spelled out challenges, and looked at
the opportunities the project presented.
“The walk-through gave the subcontractors a sense of ownership, and it allowed
Dave and Annie to see familiar faces
when the work started,” said Cliff. “It
also helps lend the homeowners comfort
during the peaks and valleys of the remodeling process.”
Remodeling is all about complementing existing conditions, not about
reinventing the wheel. The biggest
changes had to do with bringing in more
light and more flow, and if those issues
could be solved, the rest of the remodel was free to come from the wish list.
Dave and Cliff met at the house and
started crafting a master plan. Cliff’s
first impression was that the house felt
awkward because it didn’t fit its site. “I
asked Dave, ‘How do you get into your
home every day?’ Thecontinued
house, on
topage
feel71as
The old kitchen looked outdated and lacked good lighting. A new window now lets in more light and new
pendant lights give the illusion of a higher ceiling. Cabinetmaker Tom Lyman created new cabinets, plus a
unique counter that divides the kitchen and living space, made from a piece of red cedar cut into the shape
of Vermont. A new window worked wonders for the upstairs bathroom (below) too.
it should, needed a different entry! It
needed a place to enjoy the view from
the front, and it needed a sense of arrival,” emphasized Cliff.
The first big change was to address the entry problem. Dave had been
entering the house through the garage
the whole time he had lived there. Cliff
designed a side entry parallel to the
garage—a covered porch that gave the
house a whole new room and let Dave
and Annie appreciate the view on their
way into the house. Additionally, the former front door could now act as a seasonal entry. In the summertime, Annie
leaves the front door open and lets the
light and breeze flow through the house.
The biggest interior change to the
V e r m o n t M a g a z i n e 6 1
An upstairs bedroom shows off the woodwork of
new, recessed bookshelves and closet doors. Pastel
colors used throughout the house helped brighten
up the interior as did the new window treatments.
house was the addition of an “escape
hatch” for Annie since she knew she
would need her own special hideaway
and workspace. After some masterful reworking, Cliff found room in the plans
for it. In the front of the house, near the
old front door, is a stunning stained-glass
door that leads into Annie’s studio. Annie had seen local glass artist Terry Zigmund’s work and was immediately taken
with it. As a surprise for her birthday,
Dave bought Annie a large piece of Ter-
ry’s stained glass. Brian Higgins, the lead
carpenter for the whole remodel, took
Terry’s beautiful work and turned it into
the door to Annie’s space. After seeing
the western light pour through the glass
door and into the rest of the house, Dave
and Annie decided to infuse the upstairs
with more of Terry’s work and added a
stained glass window above the stairs.
In the kitchen, much of the work
was left up to Tom Lyman, a cabinetmaker in Hinesburg. Tom crafted cher-
ry shelves in the hallway leading away
from the new mudroom, and their gentle
curve directs the flow of the house into
the kitchen and eating space—where Annie and Dave love to entertain and spend
much of their time.
Agreeing on design and budgeting
decisions didn’t always happen right
away for Annie and Dave, but with
the help of Peregrine, they worked out
a few great compromises. Annie had
hoped for a new floor in the kitchen with
wide, farmhouse-style floorboards, but it
wasn’t in the budget. Annie was disappointed until Cliff pointed out that the
existing oak floors near the front entrance
were in great shape. “Boom—that wide
floorboard was out!” said Cliff. They
matched the existing oak and carried that
flooring into the kitchen. Cliff was able
to keep the project grounded with a simple suggestion, and Annie jumped right
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& estate maintenance for 21 years.
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62
march / april 2013
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on board with his practicality.
Dave had quite a bit of compromising to do on his side of the wish list. He
had hoped to turn the basement into a
“man cave” where he could spend time
and display his elaborate train collections. The original house had a finished
basement, but Peregrine had to gut it for
complete access during the renovation.
At that time, refinishing the basement
was well over the budget. Realizing that
Dave’s basement couldn’t happen right
away, Cliff suggested that they keep in
touch, make the plans, and come back
in a year or two when the money was
there. In November 2011, Peregrine’s
team came back and finished the basement. Now, the basement is where Annie and Dave go every night to relax and
escape. “We can’t hear the phone in the
basement, so we can hide out and enjoy
our evenings,” said Annie.
For Cliff and the Peregrine team, it
was very special to go back and be appreciated by their clients. “We gave them
a product, but with Dave and Annie, they
realized that there is a special process to
the project,” remarked Cliff. Even now
that the basement is completed, Cliff
still visits the house and helps the couple
brainstorm new ideas. “I like that we all
feel comfortable enough in this relationship that Cliff can give me a hard time
about the wine cellar not being finished or
because I haven’t put up shelves yet,” said
Dave. Cliff and the Peregrine team really
became part of Annie and Dave’s family,
and on the last day of building, the couple
hosted a big barbeque for the entire team.
“The project was seamless and fun. We
didn’t know how good the team would
be,” said Annie, “but they educated us
and held our hand the entire way.”
Jordan Werner lives and writes in Burlington, VT. Susan Teare is a professional architectural and
landscape photographer based in northern Vermont.
Just the facts
Peregrine Design/Build
49 Commerce Avenue
South Burlington, VT 05403
Call (802) 383-1808 S. Burlington
or visit peregrinedesignbuild.
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V e r m o n t M a g a z i n e 6 3