One of the joys of working with older homes is being able to continue a story that began long ago. In the case of this Victorian in Denver’s Cole neighborhood, that story began in 1890. The original floor plan probably consisted of two bedrooms, a parlor, a dining room, and a kitchen; it may or may not have had indoor plumbing. The attic included windows but was left unfinished, an opportunity for a future owner to add space.
Over 100 years later the two bedrooms had been converted to a larger entryway, a single bedroom, and a space leading from the kitchen to the single bath that was too small to be a bedroom but took up too much space for its role as a hallway.
Serving the needs of its current owners required a few small moves and one big one. The biggest change was in the attic, with a new set of stairs leading from the entry up into a spacious primary suite.
Extending the roofline all the way to the back wall of the house made room for a luxurious bathroom. A small dormer was added on the north for the stairs, creating enough space for an office nook filled with natural light.
On the main level, the existing bedroom became an ensuite with the existing bath, functional as an office, nursery, or bedroom.
In the kitchen, swapping the location of the back door with a window allowed for a more functional cabinet and appliance layout, which moved the refrigerator out of an awkward closet and reunited the oven with the rest of the countertops.
A new bar-height passthrough to the dining room opened the space to the front and created a continuous flow from the living room to the kitchen in the back.
The end result is a design that takes advantage of potential that was already there to transform the home without expanding its footprint, ensuring that this old Victorian will meet the needs of another generation.
Old houses often present their own unique quirks, which made us grateful to have worked with Jeff as he was nothing short of phenomenal to work with throughout the lifecycle of the project.
The Montgomerys, Owners