Concept, Design & Process
When dealing with a home designed by a famous architect, the idea of compassionate architecture must remain paramount to the design process. Marshall Sabatini is experienced in planning compassionate architecture designs that seek to enhance existing buildings without overtaking them. Here our approach was to seamlessly fold a new addition onto the front of an original structure created by famed Philadelphia Architect Walter Durham.
We preserved the home’s design, by having the addition “kiss” the original home’s footprint at a corner on the home’s façade, rather than replace the entire front.
Prior to the renovation, the home’s staircase felt too close to the front door. Familiar with the spacious entryways of European buildings, this family requested that a grand entry space be installed behind the front door. We bumped out the front door by several feet to achieve this objective.
Off the newly expanded entryway, a family room and in-law suite were added to the first floor. Above these rooms a master suite, home office, music studio and dressing room were added to the second floor. The addition was significant as it more than doubled the size of the home for this family.
