A Historic Boulder Victorian Reimagined for Today
How do you add a bedroom, family room, laundry room, mudroom, and two bathrooms to a vintage residence—without adding a square foot? That changed into the arithmetic required of the bold souls who offered this circa-1875 Gothic Revival Victorian in Boulder’s Whittier community, a historic district in which rigorous building regulations (supposed to hold the area’s appeal) make changing a home’s exterior nearly not possible.
“We knew we wanted something vintage, with man or woman,” the homeowner says of her house search. “When we determined this Victorian, we notion, Well… there’s no main bedroom.” But, propelled through a can-do attitude, she and her husband offered the house beside and hired Boulder’s Elton R. Construction and Denver-based JM Kitchen & Bath to embark upon a modern, yearlong preservation that added loads of functionality (and yes, an entirely new main suite and kitchen) for their younger circle of relatives of 4—without pushing an inch over the existing three,000-square-foot footprint.
The design eye that brought it together belongs to Lindy Williams, the major and innovative director of Boulder’s Westward Foundry design company. Williams says of the venture: “[The homeowners] were excited about being in the ancient district, and they wanted to do it right and honor the records of the house.”
The preservation came together in phases, beginning with the second floor, reconfiguring to encompass the main suite, laundry room, and two youngsters’ bedrooms—changes that required approval from the City of Boulder’s Landmarks Board. Next, it became directly to the floor, where the crew borrowed some underused rectangular photos from the prevailing connected garage. Converting the slab-foundation garage on sandy soil into a livable area required creative trouble-fixing (and excavation) regarding necessities like plumbing and a gas line. Still, the ensuing kitchen and circle of relatives rooms are the residence hub.
Dr giving the design of each reimagined space became the family’s need for storage. With two young kids and no basement or playroom to accommodate their stuff, constructed-ins (see: circle of relatives’ room and kitchen) had been crucial—and carefully designed. “We did now not need a big residence; it’s reasonably sized,” the house owner says, “however we controlled some high-quality garage. That wall of cabinets [in the kitchen] is like a built-in hutch; we love it because we can conceal the whole lot. It makes the house feel so much more green.”
For all its practicality, the residence exudes warm temperature and a polished eclecticism rooted in the homeowner’s nuanced tastes—and becomes carried out with Williams’ assistance. “I want to take numerous dangers; Lindy became incredible support for that,” the house owner says. “‘Yes, paint your kitchen blue!’ she stated.”
Combined with crimson brick, white marble countertops, and brass fixtures, that daring blue cabinetry lands somewhere between a modern-day farmhouse and a traditional Victorian on the style spectrum. But as risks crossed, the floor-to-ceiling mural that enlivens the dining room became possibly the most important—and yielded a large payoff. Created by the artist and Colorado local Naomi Clark, the ambitious floral motif gives a fanciful focal factor that riffs on the nice and cozy brick tones and pops of blue that appear throughout the home.
The complete layout scheme, in reality, feels stimulating and creative. “With old houses, you don’t just install emblem-new fixtures,” Williams says. “The house owner has an eye for antique fixtures, and he or she had a few exceptional family pieces.” Heirloom rugs anchor each living area with warm, rich shades, for instance, even as cooler colorations and blended styles (see: the striped ottoman and herringbone-tile hearth surround inside the circle of relatives room) add a clever fashion, but in no way precious. “They desired it to have a gathered look,” Williams says of the design. “They didn’t want something to appear too best and pretentious.” The result: an antique domestic polished up for a brand new century.
An heirloom rug anchors the family room (previously the garage), which is geared up with a properly edited mixture of textures and patterns: a leather Restoration Hardware couch, stripped Kim Salmela ottoman, and, around the fire, Nero Marquina marble tile from Ann Sacks. Photo by Kimberly Gavin.
