RENOVATION
indoors
m
w * *
*
■
”
1
ä
L
O
n the outside,
Bob and Nancy
Bowen’s 1940
house looks like
a quintessential
cottage. Inside, its
secret is revealed:
The once-1,300-square-foot home has
been discreetly expanded to add living
space for the couple and their son, Sean.
Bob, a construction firm executive,
and Nancy, a remodeling contractor,
felt strongly about maintaining the
Dallas home’s architectural integrity.
“It’s a pet peeve of mine to see a big
addition on the back of an older house,”
says Nancy. “We needed the space, but
it was important to us that the new
parts look correct with the old.”
The Bowens expanded the kitchen
into an adjacent sunroom, then added a
2 1
x
2 1
V
2
-foot family gathering space.
The decision to vault the ceilings led to
other major modifications. “We had to
change the existing roofline, keeping
the same slope, but going up higher so
the addition wasn’t visible from the
front,” says Nancy.
The extra effort and expense paid
off. “When people come over, they can’t
always tell which parts are new and
which are old,” says Nancy. “To us, that’s
the ultimate compliment.”
REWRITING HISTORY
Updated kitchen cabinets and countertops create
a more efficient work area with better storage,
above,
while glass-front upper cabinets and vintage-style drawer
pulls keep the charm of the original space.
THE POWER OF COLOR
As a counterpoint to their stainless-steel refrigerator and
dishwasher, the Bowens chose a commercial-grade
range and vent hood in green,
right
“I envisioned the
range as the focus of the kitchen, and thought it would
be more fun if it was colorful,” says Nancy.
82
OCTOBER
2008
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