CLIENT:  Eric & Michele Calhoun
PROJECT LOCATION:  Cortland, Westchester county, NY.

PROJECT GOALS:  Enlarge a very small, very dark kitchen without "bumping out" (adding on, or building an addition).  Make better or more frequent use of seldom used dining room;  Create a better flow, better "connection" between the kitchen and the dining room.  Let the early rising sun flood the kitchen with light.  Let the chef enjoy the kitchen, so that he can keep impressing his wife, the family and  finally their friends with his cooking!

PROJECT DESCRIPTION :  Redesigning of most of the first floor revolving around the kitchen. The basement stairs needed to be relocated to allow for a larger kitchen, which would include a peninsula and an island.  Our most extensive structural repairs and alterations were in order after the discovery of major structural defects and concealed conditions.

The home was originally built circa 200 years ago, which we all already knew;  The problem was that someone decided to "bumped out" the kitchen (our guest was circa 1920's) over an existing porch, which had no masonry foundations or footings...  Couple that with poor exterior grading in that very location, and the wood sleepers originally installed to support the porch decking were completely rotten, wet ashes, literally.. As of result, that section of the house had settled by almost 3 inches (not to mention that the floor underneath the sink base cabinet was completely "missing").

After installing proper temporary support, a concrete foundation was poured, new wall studs erected, new ceiling and floor joists were sistered and/or replaced.  An arched wall between the dining area and the kitchen area not only provided a nice separation between the two rooms that the owners wished to keep, but it served another purpose in concealing a much needed, large support beam.  We were now ready to move on to the next step, the mechanicals.

Complete plumbing & electrical overhaul were in order.  Since the ceiling was open, hydronic radiant floor heating system were installed not only on the kitchen floor and the dining area, but also for just about half of the upstairs.  An in-line, remote kitchen hood fan was chosen to minimize, almost eliminate the noise always associated with a powerful kitchen exhaust fan.

The scope of work also called for replacing the patio door with 10' of glass, meaning 6' French doors sandwiched between fixed, stationary glass panels. In addition,  two sets of triple windows were added. Not only all that glass brought "the outside inside", but it made everything of course much brighter and the backyard so much more inviting...

Cabinetry is factory direct; Fill out this inquiry form for a link to the manufacturer web site.

PROJECT DESIGNER and/or ARCHITECT:  Sylvain Côté, Peter Bowden
PROJECT MANAGER: Sylvain Côté
AGE OF STRUCTURE:  Late 1700's
STYLE OF HOUSE: 
SQUARE FOOTAGE OF JOB:  600
STARTING DATE:  October 2005
COMPLETION DATE:  March 2006
CLIENT COMMENTS:  On their way!

AVERAGE PRICE RANGE ON SIMILAR PROJECTS*:  $120,000 - $130,000  
("Big Ticket Items" cost: $43k cabinets, $15k structural repairs, $18k appliances, $10k countertops, $8k floor & backsplash tiles, $15k windows & doors, $5k radiant heat, $5k plumbing fixtures, etc...)
*Price based on similar existing conditions, building supplies, square footage and other various factors and therefore subject to change.