HORSE CREEK MESA RESIDENCE
A renovated home with a more updated and contemporary aesthetic
From 1,800 to 3,500 sq. ft.
Design Team: Chris Moulder, AIA; Kevin Noble, Nereida Ortiz, Alex Charintsev
Interior Designer hired by the client: JR Zachary Design
Extreme remodels and additions are fun to do. The ones where we, as the design team, know what is still there from the original structure, but we’ve been fortunate to have had a hand in totally transforming an existing house which, like a phoenix, rises to begin a new life for a new family – those are the projects that are especially challenging, exciting and rewarding to see completed. This project began with an existing 1,800 square foot, L-shaped ranch home with simple gable roofs that was built in 1986. The home consisted of two bedrooms, two baths, an open kitchen and dining room and a step down living room. A large stone fireplace was in the middle of the living space, blocking the views from the kitchen and dining room thru the living room to the amazing mountain vistas to the south. And for a home that is in a climate with six months of winter, there was no garage.
The couple who purchased the property had a wish list that included the addition of a master bedroom suite, an expansion and remodel of the core of the house – the living, dining and kitchen areas - that would open up the spaces to views of the mountain ranges to the southeast and a request to update the two guest bedrooms and bathrooms. Storage space was lacking, as was an identifiable entry, so these items were added to the new program along with a mudroom and a three-car garage.
Principal, Chris Moulder’s architectural solution extruded the house, adding 1,700 square feet to the existing structure. Where one originally entered the home a wing was added that forms a connector to the new three-car garage and includes a mechanical room and mudroom. The original entry space was given to an expanded kitchen with a large island, which, now that the center fireplace was removed, is part of a great room with views through the dining area and expanded living room to the mountains beyond. A new entry was created for the home, accessing what is now the center of the structure now that a new angled wing was added to the right, comprised of an office and master bedroom suite. This wing provides complete privacy from the guest bedrooms which remain on the opposite side of the great room.
The interior of the home was completed with a neutral color palette allowing the focal point to be the uninterrupted views of the natural landscape seen through the large panes of glass that open the rooms to the sky. Light walls contrast with reclaimed timbers that accentuate the ceilings in the main living space and master bedroom and provide consistency with the vertical weathered wood siding used on the exterior. The resulting “new” home is unrecognizable from the original structure as all that remains is the footprint of the core of the house and guest bedrooms. This whole-house renovation created a more spacious, livable and comfortable home with a more updated and contemporary aesthetic. It is a home that reveres its environment and nestles in to and belongs to its surroundings.