OCTAGON ADDITION

A client bought a tiny saltbox that was built into the side of a steep bank. He asked me to add a two story addition – a Living Room on the ground floor and a Master Bedroom and Bath on the second floor.  The zoning setbacks were so restrictive that the only scheme that would work was within a small circle. So that led to the octagon.

 

The existing saltbox may well have been built in the late 1700s. I thought a link at the ground level with a properly proportioned entrance door and Entrance Hall would make a nice link between the old and the new.

This view of the back of the house shows the hillside setting. The septic system was on the far side of the house and precluded extending the house in that direction.
The owner’s tastes were traditional so it was important to respect his interest in antiques and 18th century details.

Better Homes and Gardens published the house in the Fall 1987 REMODELING IDEAS. They stated “A radical departure can be the best gambit for adding more space without spoiling a little gem of a house.”

PHOTO: View from the road. The octagon worked as it is practically tangent to the front and side yard setbacks

 

My client  was a friend from Bedford who bought a very old small saltbox.

He said he needed more room and wanted to add a wing with a more gracious living room on the ground floor and a new master bedroom and bath above. The problem was that since it was a house from the colonial days, it was very close to the road. It was also built into the side of a hill that was mostly rock.

To make the challenge even more problematic the front and side yard setbacks were so restrictive on the one side that one could conceivably plan the new addition, I kept sketching a circle that was tangent to both the front and side yard setbacks. I remember John saying, “You’re clever – I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

The solution was not exactly round, but an octagon just might do the trick. John also said that the new addition was to be a bit more stylist than the existing salt box, but must complement each other (He used the analogy of a dignified mother whose daughter had come home and settled next door).