A Queen Anne Victorian was a dream home for the Noel family. But this Kenwood gem, built in 1892, wasn’t exactly the perfect fit for a modern family with three young children. The rooms were tiny. There was little storage. And the word “functionality” wasn’t in the original design vocabulary. The Noels wanted a home that could accommodate a modern lifestyle without undermining the home’s original architectural integrity.

When the Noels purchased their Queen Anne Victorian, the home was a skeleton of the majestic 1892 original—nearly everything had been removed, gutted, and stripped down to its studs. It was a shell with a shiny outside that left few cues about its former life. The only proof of its former architectural grandeur existed in grainy historic images.

But before the Noels could begin to imagine returning the home to its original luster, they had to determine how such a home could accommodate the needs of a modern family of five and stay true to its original architectural character.

Designing with family in mind

The process, first and foremost, included determining the family’s long-term needs.

“There were discussions about our family unit, how we interact, and how we see the future in the home as the children grow up,” she says.

“Throughout the planning process, the kids’ experience of living in the house was just as much a focus as the parents’ experience,” David Heide says.

Heide wanted to create living spaces that honor the original home as much as they honor and support parenting and family dynamics.

To that end, the studio designed details like a secret passageway between two closets so the two youngest girls can visit each other.  In the parents’ bedroom, a sitting room provides a private retreat. Just off the kitchen there’s a large mudroom where the kids’ can get situated for school and easily remove their snow-caked boots.

Seamless and Subordinate

In order to accommodate their family, the Noels added a four-story rear addition to the Queen Anne, but did so without compromising or dwarfing the uniqueness and beauty of the original structure.

“This is very much a period piece,” says Heide. “And through it all we worked to ensure our work was subordinate to the original architecture.”

To the casual observer, everything looks seamless, but to the preservationist, there’s a distinguishable honoring of the evolution of the home.

The new fireplace in the family room, for example, is a much simpler version than the one in the original parlor. And clear glass was used throughout the addition in an effort to remain subordinate to windows on the original home, which are heavily saturated in color.

“We want to thoughtfully integrate changes between new and old,” Heide says. “But we also don’t want to blur history and mislead.”

Noel says the end result is a synergy that has turned their home into a masterpiece where life can happen—and the family can grow and experience it together.

“It’s the old saying, ‘Anything worthwhile, is worth waiting for,’” she says.

“The end results are phenomenal. Each space speaks for itself yet blend together seamlessly; the old and new seemingly indistinguishable.”