Putting on the Ritz

Reconciling everyday needs with period character is never an easy task. Being faithful to an existing framework while providing for the demands of modern living takes expertise and patience.

It's a concept that seems to have been undervalued in remodels of the 80s if the number of excisions of 1980s-era works in period homes is anything to go by.

The featured property is one such project. Designed and built in 1915, this Robert E Seyfarth house was remodeled 30 years ago and has now been sympathetically reworked to restore the original character, says architect Scott Javore.

"The master suite is part of a reconfiguration of the second floor. The owners wished to reinstate a sense of proportion to the rooms, so that they were more consistent with the size of the house. They also wanted to create axial views within the spaces and to reintroduce an air of formality to the rooms.

"Seyfarth was highly skilled at incorporating an historic point of view into his designs, so while there are visual references to a period style that people can identify, there are also contemporary touches that don't fit a faithful interpretation," says Javore. "With this home, there is a Colonial Revival aesthetic, one of Seyfarth's signature styles, but it is mixed with purely 1920s sensibilities."

Taking a cue from Seyfarth, Javore has incorporated design elements found throughout the home into the new master bathroom. "This is a private space, but it was important to add visual links to other areas in the house to impart a sense of seamlessness and timelessness though few, if any, people other than the owners will notice. The doors to the dressing area cabinetry are an example their fenestration matches that of the original side entrance to the home," says Javore.

Millwork too, echoes that found within the rest of the house and is in keeping with Seyfarth's stylized Colonial Revival aesthetic.

The homeowners asked for a combination of separate and shared facilities to be included in the design, which has led to a compartmentalization of spaces, yet the whole remains open and consistent.

"From the outset, the owners specified his-and-hers vanities and a freestanding tub," says Javore.

"The project become one of reconfiguring existing spaces a bedroom has become the dressing area and part of the bathroom in such a way as to create privacy; as well as providing the clear lines of sight the clients had asked for."

As well as the freestanding tub, one of the owners wanted to include a plunge tub in his area of the bathroom.

"The initial plans didn't account for the plunge tub, which was requested during the process," says Javore. "While it was tricky at first to incorporate smoothly into the design, it is just the sort of modern addition that Seyfarth would have made so it too has an integrity that adds to the overall scheme.

"A mix of the historic and modern work together to form a cohesive whole."

Story by: Justin Foote