Very beneficial article by Wendy Moonan that’s loaded with information and facts pertaining to windows. Suggestions with regard to homeowners aiming to be more energy-efficient.<\/p>\n
A real estate advertisement in the April 15, 1923, issue of the Omaha Daily Bee featured \u201cone of the best brick homes in Dundee\u201d on a large lot with \u201cample room for shrubbing.\u201d Details about the newly built three-story house called out the large living room, sunroom, breakfast room, and billiards room, as well as its five bedrooms and three baths. <\/p>\n
Today that same gracious Colonial Revival is located in central Omaha\u2019s Dundee\u2013Happy Hollow neighborhood, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. From the street, the house looks much as it did nearly 100 years ago, which was part of its appeal for current owners Brent and Emily Beller.<\/p>\n
Lions stand guard at the entry to the handsome brick Colonial Revival, which looks virtually unchanged after nearly a century. <\/p>\n
Dana Damewood<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI grew up in a newer part of town,\u201d Brent says. \u201cWhat attracted me to Dundee was that it was developed in the early 1900s and the homes are all of the same lineage.\u201d (Of note: Warren Buffett, \u201cthe Oracle of Omaha,\u201d still lives in the house he bought there in 1958 for $31,500.) Brent liked that the brick foursquare had \u201cgreat bones\u2014it\u2019s very well built and solid.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bellers came across it while house hunting before the birth of their fourth child. \u201cWe loved the classic brick exterior, with the white pillars in front,\u201d says Emily. \u201cPlus, there\u2019s a large park nearby for the kids.\u201d After moving in, they replaced the leaking red-clay-tile roof but did little else other than painting. <\/p>\n
Pushing out the sink wall by 2 feet and the range wall by 4 feet gave the kitchen needed elbow room and allowed for an island large enough to seat the family\u2019s four children. The bank of tall windows over the sink fills the now-14-by-16-foot space with natural light.<\/p>\n
Dana Damewood<\/p>\n
After a year, though, they missed some amenities of contemporary living, and decided to \u201cbring the house up to current standards,\u201d Brent says. \u201cThe house hadn\u2019t been touched in thirty years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Left: The six-burner range is a focal point with a custom mantel-style vent-hood cover and an inset of patterned tile beneath the brass pot filler. Right: A high-arc bridge faucet in brass and an apron sink balance classic good looks with modern functionality. <\/p>\n
Dana Damewood<\/p>\n
Topping their list of most-wanted improvements: a more accommodating kitchen for their family of six, plus a mudroom addition to organize their comings and goings. Expanding the kitchen would allow for an island that could seat all four children, a coffee bar, and a more contemporary flow that would welcome guests. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn our old house we entertained a lot,\u201d Emily says, \u201cand everyone always ended up in the kitchen. That wasn\u2019t possible here.\u201d A mudroom addition would get the back door out of the kitchen. A dedicated bath for the main bedroom was overdue, too.<\/p>\n
Brent, a commercial real estate lawyer who admits to being \u201chouse-obsessed,\u201d came across the work of interior designer and old-house advocate Carrie Derrick on Instagram (@urbanrestorative). He and Emily liked her aesthetic and her commitment to restoration, and got in touch. <\/p>\n
The mudroom addition in the rear of the house allowed for a more convenient side entrance, as well as catchall storage for each member of the family. The built-in lockers, drawers, and upper cabinets were painted a bright vermilion red for an unexpected touch. <\/p>\n
Dana Damewood<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The bright-vermilion-red mudroom built-in is a high-energy departure from the blues and greens used elsewhere\u2014sure to inspire kids to stow their outerwear in the right place. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bellers\u2019 house had been well cared for, but as with most homes built 100 years ago, it wasn\u2019t designed for how we live today,\u201d says Derrick, who launched her renovation business by buying and rehabbing old houses, then helping homeowners who wanted to do the same. Derrick suggested bringing on architect Jared Gerber, whom she knew from Restoration Exchange Omaha, a local nonprofit dedicated to historical restoration (Derrick serves on the board).<\/p>\n
As Derrick and Gerber consulted with the Bellers, it became clear that the house would benefit from a few more functional improvements: The main bedroom needed more closet space, the first-floor laundry was awkward, and a covered rear entry would help to tie the mudroom addition into the rest of the house, preserving its gracious look. Above the mudroom, off the stair landing, Gerber suggested building a more usable deck in place of the small balcony that was there. To bring his plans to life, Gerber brought in Don Stormberg to act as general contractor. <\/p>\n
Like most of the first floor, the front entry and staircase retain their original quartersawn oak millwork. A powder room is tucked under the stair landing, where a door with sidelights leads to the new deck. <\/p>\n
Dana Damewood<\/p>\n
The Derrick-Gerber-Stormberg team got to work. To give the family the mudroom they needed, Gerber\u2019s plan called for reworking a small room off the rear of the kitchen that had become the makeshift laundry and offered access to the finished basement (where the advertised billiards room once may have been). Gerber would set the \u201cmuddled\u201d space right by adding a pantry closet around the corner from the kitchen, and opening up the back half of the room to the addition, adding a side entry. Derrick outfitted the space with its coat closet and built-in storage. Not that it all proceeded without a hitch: On the first day of construction, while digging the mudroom foundation, the crew discovered an abandoned oil tank that had to be removed, delaying their initial progress. <\/p>\n
Folding French doors close off one end of the dining room from the front hall and the vestibule. At the other end (not shown), it now connects to the kitchen with a wide cased opening. New wallpaper, draperies, and an updated chandelier tie the room together. <\/p>\n
Dana Damewood<\/p>\n
To maximize the kitchen space, Gerber closed up a back door that opened into the existing 12-by-12-foot room, annexed a former butler\u2019s pantry that held a tiny table and chairs, and created a large cased opening to the dining room. To accommodate a generous island, he pushed out the back wall by 4 feet, and the side wall by 2 feet. \u201cAn existing bumpout in the dining room set the precedent,\u201d he says. \u201cWe did the same thing in the kitchen, matching the exterior brick, hip roof, and windows.\u201d Uncovering an old coal-storage room along the side of the house required adding a beam to shore up the bumpout above it.<\/p>\n
Now finished, the extensions look seamless: \u201cYou can\u2019t tell where the old building ends and the new parts begin,\u201d says Derrick. <\/p>\n