Our client’s good eye for a great buy guided them to a property in foreclosure in 2009 at the bottom of the housing market. They reached out to Jones Pierce to provide a masterplan and a construction viability budget for a two-car garage, guest house accessory structure and work on the home’s exterior to better connect it to the backyard living area.
Early on, the homeowners decided to phase the design and renovation process to create their lifetime home. They wished for a comfortable, up-to-date and beautiful home that would welcome their new additions and guests alike.
Initially, they worked with Jones Pierce Architects to restyle the exterior and masterplan the landscape with Core Studios.
The unfinished basement and exterior were completed in partnership with Jones Pierce and Core Studios as the family welcomed a third child — and the home’s changes opened up exciting new places for the family to play, inside and out.
The most ambitious project started with Jones Pierce’s design in 2018 and was completed in partnership with Jones Pierce Structures in 2020.
Project Goals
The homeowners had a good-sized wish list of what they wanted in a forever home, and we collectively agreed to these project goals:
Locate the guest house “car porch” outside of the driveway parking court.
Add the guest house accessory building on the end of the driveway encroaching into the lawn area and move landscape and a Georgia Power transformer.
Develop a design for the house to upgrade the kitchen within its footprint and open up the load-bearing wall between the living and dining rooms. Add large sliding-glass doors to bring more light into the opened-up space.
Add a screened-in porch off of the office with a gabled ceiling to incorporate the surrounding trees in the backyard. The porch needs to accommodate a seating area and the fireplace needs to be repositioned 180 degrees away from the office to be used on the porch.
Restyle the rear elevation to replace the windows, repair siding and trim.
Take a Tour of this Home
Would you like to see how everything turned out? Come on in and take a look around …
The guest house location was strategically chosen to make the backyard feel like a courtyard between the buildings.
A bold change made to the interior was associated with removing the center load-bearing walls between the kitchen and existing dining and living rooms. The large portal opening allowed all three spaces to be connected and family friendly.
In addition to enlarging the dining room by removing the wall, new lights and speakers were added.
We connected the home to its backyard with the addition of large sliding doors centered in the room.
The wide cased opening connecting the kitchen created the opportunity for a tucked-away bar facing the living space.
We added a new island and cosmetic treatment to the kitchen for a complete transformation.
The addition of a breakfast nook made a huge impact both indoors and outdoors. It allowed for lots of eastern light to shine through the kitchen and added dimensionality to the back façade with its contrasting look.
The unfinished basement project introduced lots of light, easy walk-out access to the playground, a spare bedroom, a full bath and the ideal space for an additional (and quiet) home office.
The addition of a raised deck and screened-in porch connected the existing residence with the backyard for a better indoor/outdoor experience. The thick post-and-beam construction of the screened-in porch created an outdoor room connected to the surrounding trees.
Adding a guest house allowed the homeowners to host friends and family while providing their guests with privacy. This structure was designed for multi-generations and visiting grandparents.
The “garage porch” and pavilion parking provided additional covered outdoor space, which anchored the flexible open lawn with activities at the edges.
We enjoyed the opportunity to make this house a forever home and thank the homeowners for letting us feature their renovation project on our blog!
If you’d like to find out more about our residential services and our core group of contractors, interior designers, engineers and landscape architect partners, contact us for more information by phone at 404.446.3881 or email.