Golf House Road - Peter Zimmerman Architects

Renovating an older house to fit a contemporary lifestyle is always a delicate dance, one in which the past and the present co-exist equally, with neither taking the lead.

The redesign of a century-old English Tudor-style residence in Haverford, Pennsylvania, by Peter Zimmerman Architects seamlessly melds the eras, creating a traditional living space that’s light, open, and airy and that looks as though it hasn’t been altered since it was erected.

“We didn’t want to give up the formal rooms or the traditional nature of the house,” says founding principal Peter H. Zimmerman, AIA. “We used small, subtle moves and interventions across the entire house to save it for another 100 years.”

The house had been expanded through the years, and its two later additions, at opposite ends of the residence, which Zimmerman calls “out of scale, poorly detailed, and poorly constructed,” were removed. They were replaced by a new addition that holds the rear stair, an elevator and an office.

The 100-year-old house in Haverford, Pennsylvania, has been renovated to ﬁt a 21st-century lifestyle. Photos by Jeﬀrey Totaro

One of the more dramatic revisions was the shifting of the central staircase. “The way it was positioned, you could not see the gardens, and it blocked the light,” Zimmerman says. “We built a new one and pushed it to the south-facing wall and made a gracious center hall filled with light.”

The new positioning allowed for the addition of a powder room and a front-hall closet, and created a dedicated circulation path for the floor plan, which includes an expanded kitchen. The new sight line runs from the front door to the pool house in back.

The decision to restore the existing Thorn Steel Windows and to add custom steel windows and doors in keeping with the aesthetic was key to the renovation’s timeless look. “We did study the implications of changing to a wood window, which we knew wasn’t appropriate to this house,” Zimmerman says, adding that the team persuaded the owners to stick with the steel windows.

The banks of new steel doors, which flank the back entrance, open up the space, as does the new steel door that replaced the wooden one at the front entrance.

The biggest changes were reserved for the back of the house, which faces a golf course and which wasn’t landscaped. A pool and spa were added, as was a pool house, which becomes a focal point, and an orangery, which serves as the family room. There also is a new second-story addition next to the orangery.

“The pool house, which is multi-seasonal, keeps the aesthetic of the house but with open and closed elements,” Zimmerman says. “It features a large fireplace, making it a space to be enjoyed in any season. And it has great views back to the house.”

Reflecting on adaptions in general and on changes made to this house in particular, Zimmerman says that renovation is a sustainable solution for older buildings. “We reused so much of this house, and it’s going to last another century,” he says. “It’s more sustainable than a newly constructed LEED-certified house.” TB