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N e s b i t t R e s i d e n c e : A "Typical" Addition (Berkeley, CA 1998) 
DISCLAIMER!! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A TYPICAL ADDITION. Every house is different, as are the needs of every client. We chose to call the Nesbitt addition "typical," however, because it does have features in common with many houses in small cities or towns. 
Addition designs begin with scaled, accurate "as-built" plans floor plan and elevations. Plans for older houses have usually been lost, so the house must be measured and drawn before the design work begins.The parents needed space too: privacy and separation from the kids, a home workspace for Jack and a sewing space/retreat for Joey. Yet, they wanted a common space, other than the dinner table, where they could interact as a family. 
The Nesbitts' dream home included separate bedrooms for the boys, a Master
Bedroom with an adjacent bathroom for the parents, an office for Jack, a
sewing room for Joey, and a family room for everyone. Oh, and could Jack's
office have a balcony and could we manage to tuck in an extra 1/2 bath and
laundry downstairs?
Jack Nesbitt is a lawyer, working for the federal court system in San Francisco. He commutes daily on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). One reason, other than its price, that the Nesbitts bought their tiny home, when their first son was born, is that is is within easy walking distance of a BART station. It is also in a good neighborhood with older homes, many of which were already being added to. Complimentary materials, Challenges and Solutions The "typical" aspects of the Nesbitts' home was the shape of its lot and how that determined its floor plan and shaped their addition. Like most lots in small cities and towns, the Nesbett's was long and narrow with the short side to the street (see "Proposed Site Plan" drawing below). 
The Nesbitt's long, narrow lot, typical of many small cities and towns, determined the shape of the original house and the addition. Building to the driveway side was prohibited because of an off-street parking requirement, and the other side was restricted by a four-foot setback. The only available space was toward the back of the house or above it. We built a "combination" addition, which used both spaces. (To better understand the combination addition, see the "West Elevation" below.) A house that fits on such a lot will also be a rectangle, with little room for development on the sides. An addition will have to be built on the back or on top, or both as was the case for the Nesbitts. 
In my book Adding to a House, I call additions that grow out of the back of
the house and also add a partial second story "combination additions." One
of the advantages of a combination addition is that it takes up less of the
back yard than when the entire addition is built straight out. Also, since
the second story portion of the addition sits over both the old and new
first stories, it will have enough floor space for the "typical" two or
three bedrooms and one bath and still be stepped back from the street.
Generally, stepped back facades are more graceful and less imposing on the
"streetscape" than facades built straight up at the front of the house.
Both the neighbors and the zoning department appreciate the more open
design.
Despite contrasting finishes of shingles and wood siding, the roof lines, window placement and colors tie together the two stories at the rear of the house. Combination additions also minimize expensive foundation construction, allow stairs to be built in the new portion of the house thus avoiding tearing out existing ceilings and sacrificing rooms, and have certain structural advantages. Combinitation additions, then, are a common solution for adding space to a "typical" house on a rectangular lot. Unique What was not typical about the Nesbitt's home was its small size and a lucky hidden feature which allowed for easy access to the addition. In Adding to a House I recommend that for economy and architectural continuity most additions add 25% to 75% more space to the existing house. We more than doubled the size of the Nesbitts' home with an addition of just over 1,000 square feet, bringing the total to over 1,800. The decision to build such a large addition was dictated by the fact that the original house was so small. Eighteen hundred square feet is an average sized home for a family of four in the Bay Area. Other factors such as the expansion of other homes on the block, high resale prices for larger homes and the construction budget also supported the decision. The hidden feature that made this addition fairly straightforward to design can be seen on the "as-built" floor plan above (plan of the house as it existed before the addition). Note the two side by side closets separating the bedrooms. The closets happened to be three feet deep, that is, the walls of the bedrooms are three feet apart, which is the code minimum width for a hallway. Now look at the "Proposed First Floor Plan" below (house with its addition). 
Converting the closet cavity (see As-Built Floor Plan) to a hallway suggested that the entire house be organized on single, longitudinal axis. This plan allows each of the rooms to be cul-de-sacs where traffic goes through one edge of the room leaving the rest undisturbed. Thus someone can walk through the family room without crossing in front of someone else who is watching television. Note, however, that the entry door does not swing directly into the living room, but opens to the side, maintaining privacy and protection from the elements. You'll see that by removing the short walls in the existing closet cavity we were able to access the addition without cutting into either existing bedroom. New closets had to be built in the bedrooms, of course, but that work was minor compared to the the trouble of building a new hallway through a bedroom and the hidden expense, come resale time, of losing that room. Features One advantage of the combination addition is that the stairs can be built in the new portion of the house, often in a central location between the addition and existing rooms. In the Nesbittıs house, a single, central axis connects the living room with the back door, minimizing the space needed for circulation. All of the bedrooms, the family room, laundry and the entire second floor are directly connected to the circulation axis. 
Circulation is also minimized in the "adult space" on the second floor,
where one central hallway serves all four rooms. The space-saving hallway
allowed for the development of the "bonus" linen closet in the hall and
walk-in closet in the Master Bedroom.
A small, central hallway utilizes Usually, additions to buildings should be architecturally "seamless," or blend perfectly with the existing house inside and out. In Adding to a House, I list a number of ways, from matching roof pitches to matching interior finishes to produce a seamless design. The original house was flat across the front, with the exception of a bay window extending from a dormer. There was no front entry, but a door that opened awkwardly right into the living room. By creating a small entry and matching the existing dormer, we were able to give the front character, motion and balance.
Front of the newly completed Nesbitt residence. Note the use of board siding, in contrast to the otherwise ubiquitous shingles, in the entry and balcony areas. You can also see this effect on the rear photograph. The balcony broke up the front of the otherwise flat second story facade, making the front bedrooms appear as two columns to reflect the two dormers below. Matching roof pitches, styles (hip roof) and colors were strong elements in pulling the whole design together. Note that the roof lines, matching window, porch columns, rails and color scheme also pull the back facade together, even though shingles are used above and board siding below to add some interest. 
The clients desire for a new entry provided an opportunity to integrate and balance the principal facade. The window and dormer at the bottom right add mass to the lower story, helping to ground the tall addition, while offsetting the similar, existing bay window and dormer of the breakfast nook to the left (see floor plans). 
Though small, the central approach to the building is emphasized by the
Nook and Entrance projections on either side and its curved window and mail
slot which have replaced the original door that opened directly into the
living room. The entrance is reflected in the balcony opening above, thus
tying the house to the addition.
The entry archway The triangles of the dormer roof, original main roof and large addition roof add horizontal rhythm while always pointing upward like the asending peaks of a mountain range. The low roof pitch, however, returns the whole structure to the ground. Naturally, all the roof pitches and materials match, and further integration is provided by the matching shingle siding, balanced windows and trim color. Don't be fooled by the somewhat overwhelming mass of the addition shown on this flat elevation. The real building well never be seen like this, but from an upward looking viewpoint with the addition recessed (See photo above). Rather than pay a premium for the privilege of moving out of the neighborhood they loved, the Nesbitts chose to stay put and build their dream home with a completely successful addition. 
This side elevation clearly illustrates a "combination" addition, one that is built partly on the ground level and partly as a new second story extending over a portion of the original house. |
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