The Modern (Not Massive) Ranch

02 Mar 2011

This ranch home went from dark and gloomy to chic and airy, without overwhelming the neighborhood’s character in the process.

By Juana Gómez For 25 years, a photo of Julie and Tim Herrin sat on a shelf in their former home’s dark basement office. Tim had just finished a race, bike in one arm and Julie in the other. Taken in filtered sunlight, the photo shows the couple gazing lovingly at each other.
Photos by Image Engineer; Before Photo by Lawrence and Gómez Architects
Photos by Image Engineer; Before Photo by Lawrence and Gómez Architects
In the years following that race, the two have raised two children, restored a rural ranch and sailed summer oceans. For most of that time, they shared a 180-square-foot, low-ceilinged office on the lower floor of a cozy south Boulder split-level. Working from home allowed them an enviable life—they could do their jobs and be available to their two sons at any time. When the boys brought friends over for lunch or after school, Julie and Tim were there to greet them.
Before renovation, this ranch home’s dark entry was tucked out of view. After renovation, the cheerier façade lets in light, views and visitors.
Before renovation, this ranch home’s dark entry was tucked out of view. After renovation, the cheerier façade lets in light, views and visitors.
But as their boys became teenagers and their friends grew in number, Julie and Tim realized they needed a larger house with more space for teens and a proper office for themselves. Two years ago, a realtor took them to visit available Boulder properties. In many ways their search was typical: The best locations with views sported remodeled homes or older ones that needed updating. When the Herrins came across a small, south Boulder ranch home with great vistas of the city, prairies and the northern Front Range, they were captivated by it. The home also had the potential to frame Flatirons views to the southwest, but the house itself was bleak and in need of a face-lift. The couple called Lawrence and Gómez Architects in Boulder to help them evaluate the home’s remodel potential before they made an offer.
Before; The front of the home was extended outward to create a new home office.
Before; The front of the home was extended outward to create a new home office.
Initial research revealed that the greatest restriction was the building’s allowable height. Initially the couple considered putting a new office above the garage, but because the house sits at the edge of a slope, the height limitation made a second story unfeasible. So they investigated other options. After the Herrins’ offer was accepted, I got to work on designing an addition and remodel.
The new, taller ceiling unified the living-dining-kitchen area after partitions were eliminated between the former rooms. Carving space from the attic to create the ceiling’s hip shape—highlighted by trim—turned up the volume in this now-open portion of the home.
The new, taller ceiling unified the living-dining-kitchen area after partitions were eliminated between the former rooms. Carving space from the attic to create the ceiling’s hip shape—highlighted by trim—turned up the volume in this now-open portion of the home.
With the couple’s preliminary budget and wish lists in hand, I prepared drawings of the existing house and schematic sketches of several options, not discarding any ideas until they’d explored their visual and financial impacts. After merging the owners’ wants, needs and resources with the constraints of the existing house and city regulations, a project program and scope began to develop. Originally the house “was too broken up with walls,” Julie says. And the small kitchen and baths needed updating. The original street entrance was dark and tucked out of view. So I designed a generous office addition facing the street to capture the Flatirons views, and to give larger scale and presence to the house. The office was taller than the original house to help it stand out between its two-story neighbors. Higher ceilings made the home more comfortable and light inside, and stained trim highlighted the clean, classic lines. A new courtyard made the entrance inviting and recognizable. The living, dining and kitchen walls were eliminated to make a single large space, while the ceiling was opened up into the attic to create a taller space with the same vaulted shape as the new office but without disrupting the roof line.
Before; living-dining-kitchen area
Before; living-dining-kitchen area
Keen Craftsmanship
The Herrins interviewed several contractors and chose Boulder’s Cottonwood Custom Builders for the remodel. “We had the most confidence that [owner] Jeff Hindman had a good balance between cost and quality,” Tim says. “Plus, he was conscious of the remodel’s environmental impact.” Hindman was attracted to the project because of the emphasis on workmanship, including adequate insulation, indoor air quality, weatherproofing and natural light. But he did encounter challenges: “There was no framing behind the basement drywall in the original house, so we did significant extra work to bring the building up to the current standards for energy efficiency,” Hindman says. Throughout the seven-month construction phase, the architect, contractor and homeowners communicated at least daily. Consequently, Julie and Tim have few regrets, and most concern small deletions they made to stay within budget, “like eliminating radiant heat in the floor of the boys’ bath,” says Julie, noting that the big-budget decisions were made well in advance during the drawing stages.
Cherry cabinets and stainless steel provide a nice modern contrast to the kitchen’s leather-finish countertops with chiseled edges.
Cherry cabinets and stainless steel provide a nice modern contrast to the kitchen’s leather-finish countertops with chiseled edges.
One striking element is the buff Lyons stone wrapping the new façade, front walk and patio. Tim insisted on this feature to give the design cohesiveness. “The stone is a huge success,” Julie says, “along with raising the ceilings where we could. Adding windows, the cherry-wood trim, living room built-ins and tile made our house special.” After moving in, the couple tackled the landscape. Tim began planning a design and gave a sketch of the space to his family for input. They wanted to minimize the lawn through the use of low-water plants and boulders. Tim took Julie on boulder hunts at Tribble Stone, and they scoured nurseries for drought-tolerant plants like black lace elderberry, which has long purple leaves and tiny whitish-pink blooms. From their previous house they transplanted lavender, cosmos and lily of the valley that once grew in Tim’s grandmother’s garden in New Hampshire.
Before; kitchen
Before; kitchen
After their boys leave for college, the main floor will become the couple’s primary space, where they can live comfortably without navigating stairs as they move into their golden years. This will also reduce energy costs in the walkout basement. “Even though the boys have their own rooms downstairs in this house, they spend more time upstairs in the living room with us than we would have thought,” Julie says with a laugh. And that photo of Tim and Julie at the bike race so many years ago still occupies a prominent place in their office. The only difference is that now the space is a bright, new, airy one.
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