How They Pulled It Off: a Massive Sculptural Skylight
Architect Julian King designed—and personally constructed—the bold addition to a 1923 home in upstate New York. Two 85-foot pine trees falling on it mid-renovation was only a setback.
Architect Julian King designed—and personally constructed—the bold addition to a 1923 home in upstate New York. Two 85-foot pine trees falling on it mid-renovation was only a setback.
When architect Julian King purchased his 1923 Dutch Colonial house outside of New York City in 2012, he couldn’t foresee the impact of Hurricane Sandy in the coming fall. The storm felled two 85-foot pine trees on top of the home—right when it was mid-renovation, with framing going up. As King was doing the renovation himself, this was a setback, but it did not change his vision for an addition that would contain a new, spacious, light-filled bedroom on the second floor.
The home was originally a two bedroom, one full bath home. King's addition, here in white stucco, and renovation of the rest of the home turned it into a three bedroom, two bath house.
Photo by Julian King
The original home was reclad in reclaimed barn wood laid up vertically; the new addition in white stucco was separated by a gap that formed a skylight on the interior.
Photo by Julian King
King designed the addition over the attached garage as a sculptural mass that appears through the surrounding trees. Its white stucco exterior contrasts with the reclaimed barn wood that clads the rest of the existing home, making clear the contrast and relationship between the old and new.
Skylights played an important role in the design of the new addition, opening its interior up to the surrounding landscape and nature.
Photo by Julian King
See the full story on Dwell.com: How They Pulled It Off: a Massive Sculptural Skylight
