1816 NE 14th Avenue - Description

1816 NE 14th Avenue
Craftsman Style Home Sensitively Restored and Expanded

This lovely Craftsman Style home was built, likely on speculation, in 1910 by Henry Rowe, a railroad agent who lived in the house next door. It's not known if he himself ever lived in this one, but by 1919, both houses had been purchased by Lucien and Edith Becker, who ran the Becker Conservatory of Music out of this home, and who remained in it until 1943. In subsequent years this part of Irvington fell on hard times, not the least due to the redlining that prevented owners from borrowing money for rehabilitation. Many similar homes in the immediate area fell to the wrecker's ball. Fortunately this one survived, and now it's better than new, but with every new aspect perfectly matched to original components.

You might not realize, standing outside this home with its elegant 14-over-1 windows and delightful roof lines, just how many changes it has undergone in the past few years, and that's the way the current owners, who rehabilitated this house, like it. When faced with the prospect of moving and trying to find their "dream home", they realized that, as designers and builders themselves, they could create the dream from the home they already owned. So began the collaboration of vision, architect, and builder.

The rear of the home was bumped out, upstairs as well as downstairs, changing the footprint of the house and making the rear elevation considerably more interesting. In the kitchen area, a former tiny nook became a beautiful breakfast area, with three walls of windows. The kitchen itself went from cramped to flowing, with fine details helping to make the most out of the grand scale of the new space. Great effort was put into making every detail of the new construction match that of the original,

The new French doors in the formal dining room open onto a completely reconfigured back deck, which is well designed to allow one to meander around, affording separate spaces with varied aspects on the garden. In the expansion, diamond pane windows were hand-made to match the originals, only their creator can tell the difference. Upstairs, the bump-outs provided room for a modern master suite, two walk-in closets, and a generally spacious feel that the home lacked before.

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