Dave Ackerman and his architecture and design firm, Wolf Ackerman, have been making modern additions to traditional homes for at least a decade, and he thinks the trend is definitely catching on.
“We’ve done a lot of older houses, specifically in and around Belmont, that just don’t suit the way people live today,” Ackerman says. “They are 75 to 100 years old, and the owners want more light and more space.”
So what exactly is the traditional homeowner who wants more space to do? Try to copy the home’s original styling? Make an addition that’s subtly different? Or go extreme and produce an extension that demands attention?
Dan Zimmerman of Alloy Workshop says existing architecture should drive the decision-making. “If the two structures were dancing, one wants to lead and the other wants to follow,” he says.
Existing buildings that are leads—those with striking features like high-design mid-century modern houses, Zimmerman suggests—might step on the toes of hyper-modern additions that would also like to lead. But a simpler farmhouse or gabled roof design, for example, might be willing to follow bolder add-ons.
Once the decision to go the hyper-modern direction is made, Ackerman says homeowners must strike a balance. “It wants to be distinct and different, but it also needs to play nicely with the existing house,” he says. “For us, it’s like, let’s figure out the scale and rhythm and find a way to put this thing on so it looks right and feels right, rather than like a spaceship landed.”
And where should the audacious additions go? Often, they work best off the back of homes, where they can do what modern designs do best—open the interior space and work seamlessly with exterior space.
“Generally what happens is the kitchens, living, and dining rooms, that is where the expansion wants to happen, so you open it up and create a better connection to the yard,” Ackerman says. “That’s where people are living these days.”
Exceptions exist, Ackerman says. His firm has done modern front porches and standout second stories and side yards. But there, too, it’s all about opening up space and meeting the old and new in the middle.
Zimmerman isn’t as keen on hyper-modern additions to old homes in general, but he agrees it’s all about finding that middle ground.
“I like our architecture to relate in some way to the building,” he says. “I might take an approach where I match the form of the addition to the building but may deviate with materials or color. Or we can do the opposite, deviating in form and matching materials and colors. Whenever I talk to potential clients and they are looking for people to work with, I talk about finding a balance.”
