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Embracing the romance of a bygone era, a Bankers Hill couple gives a modern facelift to their historic home
Photo by Jim Brady
It’s the kind of home you see in the movies,” says Tom Felkner of the Georgian Revival he and husband Bob Lehman fell in love with three years ago. Perched on Bankers Hill, the home is indeed stately and sweet—the kind of classical structure you’d expect to see surrounded by rust-colored leaves in New England. Here, however, beneath the south-coast sun, it lacked an outdoor space that could be used year-round, an easily accessible kitchen and a bathroom dedicated solely to the master suite.
“The home had great bones,” Felkner says. “It was built sturdy and solid.” Owners of a home management company, he and Lehman bought the historic Dodds-Bennett house knowing full well they would have to update it while restoring its classic beauty.
“Its inner workings, plumbing and electrical, had been neglected,” says Felkner. “None of the bathrooms worked properly. Half the backyard was a mysterious slab of concrete. And we knew we needed more than a one-car garage, plus a master suite with a large bathroom and closet.”
With the house in that state and with barely any furniture, the couple did what they do best: They threw a party. And not just any party. This one was attended by Mayor Jerry Sanders as well as supporters of organizations such as the Stonewall Citizens Patrol (which the couple co-founded), the Human Relations Commission (on which Felkner served as city commissioner) and the Veterans Advisory Board to the County Board of Supervisors (where Lehman held a seat).
“The main toilet was literally being held together with paper clips,” Felkner says. “But the real surprise was that we didn’t die in the house before it was renovated. The furnace was venting carbon monoxide into the crawl space under the house instead of to the outside.”
Determined to maintain their home’s historic status while bringing it up to date, Felkner and Lehman enlisted architect Todd Brazzon to mastermind the renovation.
“I approached it as though I were infusing a 21st-century livable lifestyle into a grand old dame that had fallen out of fashion,” says Brazzon, president of b+d architecture in Hillcrest, who grew up on the East Coast. He immediately fell for the home’s dramatic crown molding, plaster ceilings and period detailing.
Among the architectural challenges Brazzon faced was reconfiguring the 1922 floor plan to create informal spaces that flow seamlessly. “We attempted to accomplish seemingly incompatible tasks,” he says. “We had to create a new visual connection and openness in the floor plan while, as a design nod to this historical home, maintaining the architectural definition of each room.”
In addition, his clients, frequent entertainers, wanted an alternative entry to their home—one that would replace the rear door that guests preferred, despite the elegant formal entry in the front. Entering from the back led guests directly into the kitchen.
“We created a new foyer that spans the full depth of the house and connects with the front foyer,” Brazzon says. “This—along with the attached second-story veranda, elegant brick walkway and raised planters—created a new entry focal point and new formal procession into their home from the side street.”
Creating a first impression from the side street required an upgrade to the existing one-car, carriage-door garage. Brazzon went a step further by designing a fully equipped guest suite above it. The new casita—painted in a soft Cape Cod blue—is part of the 1,120 square feet added to the home.
“I wanted to give a sense of enclosure to the rear yard and maximize the available yard space by minimizing the footprint of the house,” Brazzon says. “I felt it would be a nice gesture to have a casita that ‘lives’ detached yet is physically attached with a second-floor covered veranda, which is also a throwback to simpler, more romantic times.”
Other details throughout the home reflect the sentiment of that bygone era. While spacious and modern, the new kitchen is rooted in romance, with elegant honed carrera marble countertops, a subway-tile backsplash, an apron sink and polished chrome fixtures. Brazzon incorporated dual butler pantries “to serve as a buffer while creating a symmetrical procession between the dining salon and the kitchen.” One pantry provides storage for fine china and silverware; the other contains a refrigerator, wine chilller and pass-through counter to the breakfast room.
“By adding the breakfast room between our kitchen and family room, we now have easy access to the big three: cooking, eating and relaxing,” Felkner says. “Like most guys, we spend most of our time between the couch and the refrigerator.”
Not to say other areas of the home aren’t as inviting. The new master suite is a sophisticated space highlighted by a soaking tub and marble grotto shower. In place of two tiny closets is an expansive wood-paneled walk-in.
It’s no surprise a project of this magnitude had its share of challenges. All architectural modifications on the historic home had to adhere to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for the Preservation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Historic Structures. While Brazzon and his clients wanted the rear addition—encompassing the kitchen, breakfast nook, veranda and casita—to blend seamlessly with the old structure, regulations required that old be discernible from new. The architect complied by incorporating slightly different-sized dentil blocks and lap siding that mimic those on the original home.
And as for that toilet fastened with paper clips? It’s a distant memory, but one that makes for a great addition to this home’s history.
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