More rooms with a view, and a game room, expand the redesigned house

The owners of this 1970s split level on Belleville Lake wanted to make several changes. First, the existing appearance was very dated. The owners wanted a more traditional look, with new vinyl siding, new windows, a gable facing the street, and a small porch with a turret.

In addition, the owners wanted to turn their garage to face the street because the existing side entry meant that most of the front yard was paved. The constraint of the 50 foot wide lot meant that the garage would be prominent from the street side, but the fact that the owners could landscape the "L" between the garage and the front of the house made up for it.

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The owners' main goal for this project was to provide a "game room" for 20 to 30 mounted animal heads. The owners planned to build this room in the space between the existing house and the existing detached garage. To accomplish this goal, Studio Z Architecture designed a two story high vaulted room with skylights. Studio Z also designed a link between this room and the new garage, containing a wet bar, a half bath, and a large laundry room.

The owners also wanted to enlarge the foyer. The existing foyer was essentially a six feet wide by three feet deep stair landing, with a closet at the bottom of the stairs. The owners wanted a larger foyer with room for a bench. The new foyer filled in the space between the new game room and an earlier garden room addition.

On the lake side of the house, the owners wanted to turn an existing three-season porch into a year-round living space, and to replace the deck above the three-season porch with a sitting room and a walk-in closet adjacent to the master bedroom above. To accomplish this, Studio Z replaced the vinyl siding on the walls of the porch with gypsum wall board, replaced several sliding door units across the back of the house with windows, and installed a new sliding door unit in the middle of the back. The sitting room was designed to have a vaulted ceiling and transom windows.