Moorings Road, Marion MA

Renovation of a 70 year old, 2018 sf cottage.

This project is being done in collaboration with Sheila P. Lemke of Somerville MA. Sheila is a great designer and dear friend and someone we’ve been pleased to work with from time to time.

Objectives:

• A healthier environment for the occupants
• Create a more weather-proof, energy efficient vacation home
• Maintain the old cottage’s proportions while adding a more modern feel to the interiors and exterior
• Final cottage to be 2018 sf with four bedrooms, two baths, full kitchen, living and dining areas and built-in seating within tower

This project entails the “renovation” of a 70+ year old cottage on the coast. Although the cottage didn’t look too bad, it was riddled with mold, had rot in places and was sitting atop a basement that extended below the water table – making “damp” an understatement.  All of this combined to create an indoor environment that was toxic to the family that owned it.  We use the term renovation in quotes for this project because just about everything in the house was replaced, leaving little more than the exterior shell and the base foundation.  In order to repair the foundation and raise the basement level above ground water level, we literally lifted the cottage off of its foundation, set it in the back yard, repaired and added onto the top of the foundation walls, and then placed the cottage back on the newly finished foundation – but not before filling in that damp basement. 

The new cottage has complete drainage systems inside and out, radon venting and a heating/cooling air exchanger – and that’s just the basement. Incorporating all new windows and doors, a sophisticated thermally-broken exterior wall design and all new insulation, the cottage will be snug and dry as it’s never been before.  Further, by installing a heat and energy recovery ventilation system throughout, the cottage will be able to “breathe,” bringing in fresh air and expelling old, stale air.  This will help its owners breath easier too. 

All this will be achieved without sacrificing the cottage’s funky, shoreline aesthetic or our own commitment to the environment: all materials and finishes have been selected with the health of our clients and the health of our planet in mind.