Pitch Perfect

Designed by David O’Brien Wagner

with Marc Sloot, AIA

This reinvented porch brings new circulation patterns for family life, and a fresh face to this beloved 1912 era gambrel-roofed home.

Several problems plagued the existing porch including a flat roof that collected snow and caused ice-damming, a foundation that was crumbling, and an interior that was dark and disconnected from the neighborhood.

Our solution reimagines the porch roof as a continuous and unfolding extension of the home’s historic gambrel-shape outline. By sloping the porch roof and using standing-seam metal roofing, snow now easily slides off the surface, and ice-dam issues have been resolved. The resulting form feels naturally integrated with the original lines of the home.

A new foundation and low, shingled wall grounds the porch to the site while relating back to the original material palette of the house. Simple post and beam framing opens the porch space to the neighborhood and enhances its visual connectivity. This new transparency also showcases the home’s classic window, siding, and trim detailing previously obscured by the old dark and enclosed porch.

Improved site circulation was accomplished by shifting the porch entry to one side, eliminating a walkway that divided the front yard, and incorporating a direct connection between the owner’s side-yard off-street parking and the unscreened side of the porch. Dual steps reach down from this spot to invite visitors up to the porch or welcome the owners home.

Construction by Showcase Renovations
Photographs by Troy Thies

Awards:
Minneapolis Blend Award – Best in Show Gold

Publications:
Midwest Home, Remodeling Edition April 2015

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