Close to downtown and City Park, the Skyland neighborhood has been a desirable location for first-time Denver homebuyers for over a century. Like many houses in the neighborhood, this house began as a small home built in 1910 from locally-produced brick. The home benefited from a top-to-bottom renovation in the early 2000s but, at 950 square feet with two bedrooms and one bathroom, the owners needed a way to find more room for their growing family.
In order to maximize their budget, the owners wanted to remain in the house during the renovation. Fortunately the house sits on a double lot, which provided the space to expand the house outward and still retain a large back yard. The window in the existing pantry was enlarged to become the doorway into the 560-square-foot addition, which contains two bedrooms with large closets, a full bath, and much-needed storage off the hallway.
In the original part of the house, the front bedroom was opened up into the kitchen behind, providing a flowing space from the front to the back of the house and also creating a dedicated dining room.
Large openings in the wall between the dining room and living room make the space feel airy, light, and open while maintaining separation between the different spaces. The kitchen was updated with new cabinets, and a new gas fireplace in a reproduction mantle gives the living room a new focal point.
On the outside, the addition is clad in board-and-batten siding, chosen to complement the original structure’s horizontal brick pattern while giving the addition a contemporary identity of its own.
