This home renovation was a very happy collaboration with two partners we love working with: Michele Plachter Design and Period Architecture. They kindly referred us to this project’s owners and are just all-around great partners to work with. Read more about them in our designer spotlights on pages 26 and 27.
Period Architecture Co-Founder & President Joe Mackin was the visionary behind the elegant redesign of this stately Georgian brick home’s exterior. By relocating the front door to the center of the home, he achieved the homeowner’s goal of bringing balance and symmetry to the façade. Joe shares our ethos around the importance of client experience and he was a great partner to work with on this project as we transformed our clients’ house into their dream home.
The beauty of working with a firm like Period Architecture is this: their drawings are so thorough it makes our estimation process very precise. Our estimators – often Tim or Joe Ernst – visit a project site multiple times, review the architect’s drawings in depth, bring our trade partners on board to collect their input, and talk with the homeowners about opportunities for value engineering.
In other words, we take great care ahead of time to pull together a thorough estimate with detailed pricing to help the project stay on schedule and on budget. As Tim Ernst says — we don’t like surprises. This project is yet another great example of an extraordinary final product where everyone was thrilled with the result, and we can’t wait to take you through each space in detail.
Don’t hesitate to reach out for more information. We’d love to hear from you.
Joe Ernst, Principal Owner
Tim Ernst Principal Owner
The front entry’s new location before the portico design and materials were finalized
ON THE COVER
The owners of this 1937 brick Main Line classic were intent on augmenting its symmetrical exterior and creating a fresh, spare, modern interior more in line with their preferred design aesthetic and with features suited to the needs of their active family. The elegant new entry replaces a window to balance the façade and brings visitors into the home’s spacious foyer with its graceful, curving staircase.
Photography: Rebecca McAlpin
Styling: Gabrielle Langdon
Previous location of the front entryway was here, left of center and created an unbalanced front
FAMILY ROOM
KITCHEN
DINING ROOM
COATS
POWDER ROOM
VESTIBULE STAIR HALL
FRONT PORCH
GARAGE
For anyone familiar with the home before its transition, the entry provides a marked change.
When the front door was situated left of center, the house appeared almost uncomfortably out of balance, in distinct contrast to the rest of the main façade. To fix this “design flaw,” Ernst executed the architects’ swap between the former entryway and the central window. Because brick is used less for home building now, matching the existing brick color, size and texture, as well as mortar color, was no easy task. Inside, the entry renovation required Period’s redesign of the former entry hall, with some delightfully unexpected results.
The home received a new kitchen by Bluebell Fine Cabinetry & Design, which took advantage of a long wall created by rerouting the back staircase from opening into the kitchen to taking a straight path into the family room. The family room itself was also significantly renovated, becoming a bright, welcoming, open space with dozens of options for gatherings.
STUDY
LIVING ROOM
Light pours into this more formal room from both the windows and the French doors to the patio. The arched doorway into the office was the sole arch on the first floor when Period Architecture began working with the owners, but it certainly isn’t the only one now. It inspired the arched niche that gently balances the room. The fireplace was one of several that were made more elegant with a marble surround and new mantel and hearth extension.
Note the handsome cornices and dentil molding, original to the home. Preserving the exquisite millwork, or precisely replicating it where necessary, was one of our responsibilities on the project.
Ernst also refinished all the wood floors on the first floor.
OFFICE
Formerly, the office was dark cherry wood. Everywhere. And a little too traditional for the owners’ tastes. Ernst removed some of the built-in cabinetry, replaced the fireplace mantel, surround and hearth, and provided the room with a new marble-topped beverage niche and built-in window seat.
But the real refresher was painting the paneling and heavily beamed coffered ceiling in a soothing gray-blue to eliminate the wood’s overwhelming heaviness. The bold call by interior designer Michele Plachter reveals the beauty of the original millwork better than before, from pilasters to the egg-and-dart molding to oh, that ceiling. The office is practically a millwork sampler.
NEW FOYER
These dramatic arches, inviting you from the living room in the foreground to the dining room beyond, suit the Georgianstyle home so well that you’d be forgiven for thinking they’ve always been there. Carved out of the original rectangular openings, the arches are wrapped in more of the project’s precisely replicated millwork.
The alcove on the right leads to the remodeled powder room, for which walls were moved as part of the front door’s relocation and the renovation of the new foyer’s space. It also opened up the access to the lower level’s entertainment amenities.
ENTRY CHANGES
This handsome new pent roof was capped with copper standing seam roofing. A 3-point lock keeps the new door tight-fitting and prevents warping, while the sidelights and transom bring welcome light into the new larger, grander foyer. Swapping the door and window meant adding structural steel, modifying masonry, matching 85-year-old bricks and mortar, and constructing a new walkway and stoop after removing the old ones.
What shall we do with the old vestibule? Why, build a barrel-vaulted ceiling and a hidden door into a new, windowed coat closet.
DINING ROOM
The richly dramatic formal dining room centers its live-edge wood table on the fireplace with its new mantel, surround and hearth, but it’s the out-of-the-box wallpaper that is the showpiece of the room. A door to the left of the fireplace leads into the kitchen.
Michele Plachter worked with Bluebell’s Victor Fernandez to plan out the home’s kitchen renovation. The family is delighted with the wall of sleek floor-to-ceiling cabinets, made possible by straightening the second staircase that formerly took a left turn to open into the kitchen. They now have a much-needed pantry as well as a cabinet just inside the exterior door that holds sports equipment and backpacks.
Transforming the family room, an older addition that sits behind the kitchen, started with gutting the room and removing the masonry fireplace from the facing wall. The new windows now wash the room with natural light. We fully restored the exterior where the fireplace chimney had been and around the new windows, featuring more brick-and-mortar matching.
Ernst removed the room’s skylights, which were creating glare on the tv screen, and sistered in rafters on one side of the roof to match the other side’s pitch. An added ridge beam secured the new drywall ceiling at the center of the room. Opening the ceiling also revealed what wasn’t anticipated: inadequate insulation that needed to be replaced. While we pride ourselves on eliminating surprises, some issues remain hidden from view until demolition.
The second set of windows and a new gas fireplace installed on an adjacent wall changed the family room’s orientation, making the space dramatically different. It now boasts more light, better use of space and gorgeous walnut cabinetry and bench seating from Bluebell. Altogether, a more relaxing environment for the family to gather to watch television, play games or just converse around a toasty fire.
Michele Plachter Founder
When Michele Plachter, founder and creative director at Michele Plachter Design, creates a stunning intentional space—be it for a home or business—she works to develop an environment that knits together the team of professionals who are responsible for fulfilling the client’s vision. Toward those goals, she also wants her client to be as engaged with this unique creative experience as they are delighted by the finished space.
“Success means more than just beautiful results; it’s about ensuring that architects, builders and designers work together seamlessly to deliver a truly fivestar experience for our clients.” That commitment is shared by Ernst Brothers, which is one of the reasons why we’re happy to cross-refer and pair up on projects.
“When challenges arise—and they always do, in any project— we prioritize clear communication and present thoughtful, well-aligned solutions to our clients as a cohesive team. Listening, communication and trust are at the heart of everything we do, and that’s what transforms good projects into exceptional ones.”
MICHELE PLACHTER DESIGN
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
The owners of our featured home initiated their relationship with MPD before the pandemic put everything on pause. In the meantime, the family was living in the home and discovering what their needs were and exactly what type of transformation they wanted to see. When they were ready to move forward, they reached out to Michele with a much clearer vision.
The clients already had an incredible sense of style, gravitating toward a chic, modern aesthetic and a willingness to embrace color
“The clients already had an incredible sense of style, gravitating toward a chic, modern aesthetic and a willingness to embrace color. Their inspiration started with a sock! That quirky beginning set the tone for a playful yet sophisticated approach. Elegant, classic architecture and bold, modern interiors created a harmony that, in my mind, is the definition of perfection in design.”
Michele’s team also worked with Bluebell Fine Cabinetry & Design to give the home a beautiful yet wholly practical kitchen that, with its timeless interpretation of modern design, is a perfect blend of form and function.
Period Architecture
Creating the Right Balance
The owner of our featured home tells a sweet story about her architect, Joe Mackin, president and co-founder of Period Architecture. Initially called upon to give them roofline design ideas for the critically deteriorated roof, she says the first thing Joe told them was “Your front door is in the wrong spot!”
Period Architecture’s people —not just Joe—are problem solvers. So it’s apt that he and his team had an innovative resolution to the front entry’s off-center location and the undersized, disadvantaged foyer behind it. Moving the entry completed the brick exterior’s pleasing symmetry and made the most of the spacious stair hall with its beautiful curving staircase.
Joe’s team of architects brought their knowledge, experience and rich understanding of styles and architectural precedent to the renovation. The team worked closely with the owners to make the home’s update fit the family’s lifestyle and design aesthetic while remaining respectful of the original brick Georgian style.
Joseph Mackin, Jr. Co-founder & President
“We have an exceptional group of architects and designers that value listening, building relationships and offering continued guidance to our homeowners from start to finish,” says Joe.
We have an exceptional group of architects and designers that value listening, building relationships and offering continued guidance to our homeowners from start to finish “
“As we get to know the homeowners and their family, we learn their preferences, needs, concerns and goals. Using that core understanding, we then help them bring together the designerbuilder team and specialty craftspeople that can best fulfill their vision.”
That team-of-experts approach attracted Ernst Brothers to Period Architecture initially and has allowed the partnership to grow, with several shared projects now in discussion or underway. It’s how we like to do business, too—and our clients benefit.
