23rd Street | John Lum Architecture

Our client, a developer, challenged us to maximize the potential of this dilapidated Victorian house while avoiding any Neighborhood Notification process. We managed to grow this house from a modest 1,800 SF to 3,400 SF by converting the attic into a habitable floor (using dormers and dropping the main level’s ceiling heights) and excavating down, to create another full living floor. The main floor of the house was reorganized into an expansive open plan with formal living room, dining room, and great room opening onto a level backyard. Two bedroom suites up, and two bedrooms suites with adjacent family room down, allow for maximum flexibility for the future family of this modern residence. The front facade, badly shingled in the 1970s, was replaced with a stylish, random-width, painted-wood siding to relate to the adjacent intact Victorian cottages while distinguishing this project as a completely new concept.