An airy addition on the back of a historic house in Boise is a model of sensitive renovation, seamlessly melding new and old.
This airy addition on the back of a historic house in Boise is a model of sensitive renovation, seamlessly melding new and old. Photo by Lincoln Barbour.
Image courtesy of ©Lincoln Barbour - All Rights Reserved.After nine years spent renting apartments in Boston and Chicago, Dan and Dana Zuckerman moved to Boise, Idaho, Dan’s hometown, in 2008. Drawn by the prospect of purchasing a historic home where they could raise their three kids, and by a unique job opportunity for Dan, an oncologist, the couple forewent the allure of a turnkey house in favor of a 1910 American foursquare that needed some TLC. With the help of Portland, Oregon–based architects Heidi Beebe and Doug Skidmore, they created an updated addition—consisting of a master suite upstairs and kitchen, pantry, powder room, and covered patio downstairs—that’s perfectly integrated with the original house and vibrantly modern at the same time.
The home’s original living and dining rooms were updated with custom cabinetry and new fir floors. The living room sofa, coffee table, and lounge chair are from Blu Dot.
Image courtesy of ©Lincoln Barbour - All Rights Reserved.Dana: I started looking for a house while we were still in Boston, and I saw this one online and thought it was beautiful. I flew out here with my daughter, Stella, and just fell in love with it. I loved all the dark wood, and the rooms just felt very comfortable. But the whole time I was thinking, Dan’s going to hate this place. It needed work. In the ’50s or ’60s, someone did a terrible addition to the house that completely blocked any light coming in from the west side. Still, I saw it as a great opportunity to get to do something exciting.
Dan: I was admittedly a little resistant. I grew up in brand-new houses, and at the time I was just so mentally exhausted from being in Boston and working as a resident and fellow. The idea of having to deal with anything did not appeal to me at all. All I could see was work and money and time. But I came around. The new houses we looked at didn’t have the same charm.
A former closet was transformed into a double-height library, complete with a reading nook and a rolling ladder from Spiral Stairs of America. “That’s my favorite part of the house,” says Dan. “When I see Stella reaching for a book, there’s nothing better.”
Image courtesy of ©Lincoln Barbour - All Rights Reserved.After we had lived here for a year, Dan’s high-school friend’s parents invited us to dinner with their good friends, whose daughter and son-in-law were architects who’d recently started their own firm. Heidi, Doug, Dan, and I met and really hit it off. We liked their vibe, and they got our style. We four sat down and I said, “This is what I want.” Or, rather, “This is what we want.”
Dan: Yeah, well, I had three things I wanted: a Japanese toilet and a place in the dining room to store drinks, some kind of bar. Well, I guess that’s two things. I’m not that demanding. We have the same aesthetic, so I knew that whatever Dana liked was going to be pretty much in line with my tastes. Dana loves to go through the iterations and iterations. I just want, like at the optometrist’s, option A or B. Dana does all the screening and then shows me a couple of things and asks, “This or that?” It works very well.
To help define the kitchen, the architects designed a wall of storage with cubbies on one side and a pantry with appliances on the other. Colorful doors add a playful touch, and DP3 Series cabinet pulls from Doug Mockett & Company keep the surfaces streamlined.
Image courtesy of ©Lincoln Barbour - All Rights Reserved.Dan: Downstairs, almost nothing was touched in the old part of the house, with the exception of the renovated dining room and two built-ins, one for stereo equipment and the other for alcohol. Heidi and Doug built a wall that helps visually denote the transition from old to new in the house— it separates the powder room from the kitchen and has cubbies for the kids’ stuff. Now, when you come in through the front door, you have a line of sight all the way to the back of the house.
Dana: Even with the modern addition in the back, one of our favorite places to spend time is the front porch. Most of the year we sit out there and people stop by on their bicycles. Our neighborhood has that all-American Pleasantville feel to it, in a good way. The sky is blue, we’re reading the paper on the porch, and the kids are drawing with sidewalk chalk. Some days we’re like, “We get to live here? Really?”
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