FROM PAST TO PRESENT Written by Jessen O’Brien / Photography by Alise O’Brien
A leaky fridge was the last straw. This St. Louis family had long struggled with what to do with the kitchen in their nearly century-old home, which was too small and too removed from their main living area. “For years we had wanted to update it, but it was just a very land-locked room -- with no way to make it larger. And that was always going to be disappointing and not quite scratch the itch of what we were trying to accomplish,” says the homeowner. When the refrigerator started to leak, they knew they had to do something. “We have a beautiful home, but we were spending so much time in one of the smallest rooms of the house, and that just seemed silly.” The solution proved to be swapping the kitchen with the family room -- which sat on the opposite end of the home -- and creating an addition where a large screened porch sat which had begun to show its age. It was an idea they had toyed with before, but each architect they had talked to had drawn up plans that weren’t in keeping with the look and feel of the original house. That is, until they met with Scott Krejci, senior project architect with Srote & Co Architects. “The homeowners love the home, and you can see it in how much they enjoy and care for it. They were both clear in wanting the design to blend seamlessly and complete what was missing for 14 slmag.net
them in the home,” says Krejci. “The solution was a wonderfully light and generous kitchen, great room, patio and screened porch in a beautiful setting.” Whereas other plans they had looked at involved a flat, onestory addition, Krejci’s vision echoed the peaks and height of the original home, giving them three stories to play with. Those extra floors opened up new possibilities, enabling them to build out a spacious, walk-in closet in the master suite. “The design called for historic details and finishes, and the integration of modern structure and construction methods,” says Krejci. “Period Restoration executed it flawlessly, bringing passion for the work and the knowledge and craftsmanship it required.” On the outside, stones were carefully chosen to match the existing exterior. To make the interior feel just as seamlessly connected with the original home, the homeowners brought in Meghan Heeter of Castle Design. “Meghan’s phenomenal. She’s got such great taste and knows ours,” says the homeowner. “We don’t like having choice overload and she’s good at making very tractable decisions for us. And when she comes up with something, it’s usually exactly what we want or really, really close to it.”
