An Authentic Addition For A 100-Year-Old Country Home

We Built An Authentic-Looking, Gorgeous Addition
To A 100-Year-Old Country Cottage

From Planting Boxwood Bushes To Tracking Down The Home’s Previous Roofer, We Put Our All Into This Custom Addition.

There are so many beautiful homes in Northern VA, and we love getting to remodel or add on to one. So, when we got the chance to upgrade a 100-year-old home right here in Fauquier County, we were excited to see what we could do.

This particular home addition was for our friend Frank, who had recently retired and wanted to expand the ground floor of his country cottage, which sat on what was once a 10-acre horse farm.

As a matter of fact, he even had the plans drawn up by a friend and neighbor who happened to be an architect. She provided the initial designs we used to build this particular addition.

Even though that’s not always how we do things, it ended up working great. We loved her designs, but we did end up making a few tweaks along the way. After all, change-orders are not a problem for us. We actually enjoy tinkering around with a design until it is EXACTLY right.

Updating And Adding On To A 100-Year-Old Country Home

One of the most important aspects of any remodel involving a unique country home like this is preserving the original charm, aesthetics, and spirit of the house. Too much modification or a failure to match materials EXACTLY can leave a home looking less beautiful, not more.

We weren’t going to let that happen, though, which is why Arlen went out of his way to obtain exactly the right materials for every component of the home addition.

Because Frank and his wife had recently had their roof replaced, Arlen tracked down the roofer they worked with, just to make sure he had PRECISELY the right material.

Turns out, the roofer was happy to oblige, so Arlen was able to keep their unique metal roofing material completely consistent.

Now you can’t tell where the original home ends and the addition begins. The transformation was SEAMLESS. He did the same thing for the siding, matching color and design perfectly to keep the home utterly consistent throughout.

Creating A Modern Master Bedroom And Bath For A Country Cottage

The main purpose of the addition was to create a bigger and more accessible master bedroom and bathroom. The original home had only one bathroom, and that one was upstairs.

For two recent retirees, it seemed like time for a change, but they weren’t going to give up and move into a new house when they loved their property this much.

They were going to transform their home instead.

And that’s exactly what we did. Arlen even found a stunning dresser and hand-crafted bookshelves that matched the decor perfectly. Any special request Frank or his wife had for the bathroom remodel was met with enthusiasm and intrigue.

“Nothing ever seemed to rattle him,” Frank noted. “He made a fearful process very painless and easy.”

Planting Boxwoods And Putting On The Finishing Touches

One unexpected development was Arlen turning arborist and re-planting boxwood shrubs that were nearly 100 years old. Somehow he managed to pull it off, replanting them successfully, mulch and all!

In fact, the whole process was more than just a home addition. Arlen also modified the outdoor pool area and even installed an off-site shower.

When all was said and done, to Frank and his wife’s great surprise, Arlen showed up with his family and cleaned up the entire site. The whole family worked together and got it done, leaving the whole property looking better than new. Suffice it to say, Frank was impressed.

The whole process took a few months because it was a big project. But, as Frank said, “they made our living situation as easy as it could be.”