The owners searched for a house to perform a radical transformation. The search led to a faded 1960's 1,100 SF ranch house in an in-town Portland Maine neighborhood, an ideal candidate for improvement. It may have been the worst house on the block, but it had a strong foundation, a spacious lot, and no one would miss the vinyl siding.

We designed a compact second story for the children's bedrooms, and used long span I-joists to span the full length of the house, opening a cramped floor plan up into a generous open plan with 12 foot ceilings.

The skin of the building was draped in a skin of 6" recycled rigid insulation, over the top of which is hung a flared slate shingle base topped by stained hemlock clapboards.

Careful window orientation maintains privacy from the street while drawing sunsets deep into the house. The backyard, previously isolated from the living spaces is opened up with expansive triple glazing.