RENOVATE THE RANCH

Existing front with side addition

Front with side addition demolished

One of my favorite project types involves radical transformation or adaptive reuse of an existing structure. I’m currently working on a self-generated project in Sag Harbor, NY, an extensive renovation and addition to a modest one-story ranch house. I purchased the property about 15 years ago, right next door to our 1895 home, originally for protection and investment. We rented it for many years before deciding to renovate.

Existing rear

Existing rear with non-original addition removed

The ranch had two non-original additions, one at the rear and one at the side. Although nicely located in a neighborhood of mostly two-story gable-roofed vernacular homes, close to the Village and just minutes from Haven’s Beach, the house itself was completely out of context. The original rectangular volume was structurally sound, set on a full basement with a concrete block foundation and a one-car garage beneath the main floor. But the additions were in poor shape: the rear one sat on a minimal foundation, and the side one had none at all.

Existing front roof in demo

Ready for two story add-on

New one story framing in place

We demolished the non-original portions and salvaged the main rectangle. The new design introduces a rear addition with a deeper full basement and a two-story volume extending forward and above the re-framed one-story core.

Front with 2nd story frame

Front with 2nd story frame and roof

Front with porch and membrane

Over the years, through various personal and family projects, I’ve become something of a serial renovator. Ironically, long before this ranch renovation began, I had salvaged a set of extraordinary windows and exterior doors from a high-end townhouse I worked on in Greenwich Village. The windows, custom-made in Honduras Mahogany with insulated glazing by Woodstone in Vermont, were part of the original, traditional scheme for the townhouse, which we later radically redesigned into a modern concept for the same client. While the transformation was compelling (and even took me to Portugal to research large-scale modern windows), I couldn’t bear to see these beautifully crafted originals thrown away.

Reclaimed bay window and door assembly viewed from interior during work-in-progress.

So, I trucked them out to Sag Harbor and stored them in our basement for five or six years, unsure of when or how I’d use them. When it came time to rethink the ranch next door, these reclaimed windows finally found their place. One unit, a massive bay window with integrated flanking doors and fully aligned mullions, proved to be a perfect fit for the rear façade, creating a dramatic indoor/outdoor connection between the dining room and backyard.

Doors installed with bay rough opening

Reclaimed bay window and door exterior view with triple reclaimed window above

Rear facade with reclaimed bay window, completed shingle siding, lead coated copper standing seam roof on the curved bay and reclaimed upper triple window

More blogs to follow on this transformative renovation as we continue to move the project forward.  We anticipate completion sometime around October or November of 2025.

Paul Alter – Architect, Owner, Construction Manager for  “renovate the ranch project”

View the time lapse video which captures the first 14 weeks of work in 30 seconds