An addition to a house built in the mid-1960s was an opportunity to accommodate a growing family,  the parents’ work-from-home lifestyle, and to integrate the house into its site.

The wooded site is on top of a natural knoll, with seasonal views to the Long Island Sound. The existing house was a simple, two story rectangle, organized with private bedrooms on the ground floor and the kitchen and living spaces above. The house was entered at mid-level off an exterior stair.

The addition was conceived as a ‘graft’, connecting to the existing split-level stair at the entry to the house. As in horticulture, the grafted form of the addition adds new desirable traits to the existing house. Our addition creates a new private master bedroom suite on the ground floor, as well as a covered terrace, and secluded home offices for the work-at-home parents on the second floor. The form of the addition grows toward the light and views of the Sound.

The new house is a hybrid, blending the simple functionality of the original house with the addition of flexible spaces for modern family life and remote work.

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