On any given day, Carol
Knorpp has a full house. With
two energetic sons, a lively
labradoodle, and a pair of
peppy kittens, the central
hallway in her family’s home
sees more than a little foot
traffic. You’d think that kind
of commotion wouldn’t
belong in a historic Victorian.
But it happily abides here, because Carol
and her husband, Jon, agreed on a
common goal when it came to renovat-
ing their home: Keep it casual.
“Nothing makes you run from
formality like a house full of boys and
pets,” says Carol, a remodeling designer.
Jon agrees. “People generally think of
Victorians as ostentatious and a bit frilly,
and that’s not who we are,” he says. “We
wanted something simple and functional
and attractive.”
The couple hired architect Ken
Linsteadt to dissect the house and put it
back together in a form more befitting a
modern family, including sons Jack, 15,
and Griffin, 12. First on the list was a new
open kitchen that could act as a family
hub. They sacrificed a large formal
dining room in the back of the house to
gain more space in the kitchen for a
banquette, where the Knorpps now eat
most of their meals. The old master
bedroom became a family room, and Jon
and Carol’s bedroom moved upstairs into
the former attic.
Bleached recycled white oak floors
throughout the house lighten and unite
the rooms. Linsteadt removed old doors
and enlarged the doorways along the
central hall, opening the spaces. The
home’s decorative casings are counter-
balanced by more rustic touches
elsewhere—such as
8
-inch random-
plank paneling on many of the walls and
ceilings, and wooden windows with
unpainted jambs. The look is a bit
modern Belgian, a bit urban farmhouse.
Carol spent two years hand-picking
every detail to complete that look—from
light fixtures to tiles. “I always encour-
age my clients to push the envelope, and
I had to take my own advice on this
house,” she says.
5 8 M A R C H
2010
B E T T E R H O M E S A N D G A R D E N S
