In December of 1996, we began a project designed by Peter Sandorse of Phoenix Collaborative Architects for Tom & Amy Brady of Andover. The Bradys lived in a 26' x 32' bungalow with a hip roof and dormers front and back. The second floor had previously been remodeled to provide a small bath and master bedroom. The house was a bit cramped for a family of four with two huge Labrador Retrievers. To build the addition, we demolished the downstairs bathroom and connected the addition to the main house.

The addition consisted of a 28' x 26' two-story heated garage with full bath and bedrooms above. We attached the garage to the main house with a 25' x 15' cathedral ceiling, two-story family room. This room had a half-bath and a loft leading to remodeled master bedroom. The remodeled area in the existing house included kitchen and adjacent bedrooms and the master bedroom. The hip roof and dormer in the master bedroom were removed and a gable roof was built. The carrying wall through the center of the house was removed to open up the kitchen floor plan. New kitchen countertops were installed with a new eat-on bar. The kitchen cabinet layout was expanded.

It was extremely difficult connecting the new structure to the old. The existing house foundation was dry stone. We had to pour a one-sided wall to prevent the foundation of the existing house from collapsing. The second floor hip roof in the main house was inadequately supported around the oversized Velux roof window installed by the previous owner. The hip roof had to be jacked into placed and resupported. The architect's plans had to be revised to attach the two structures. Several point loads had to be relocated and carried to the basement due to the revised plans.