Our Client in Bexley loves her charming 1950 front gable Cape Cod home, and the lovely tree-lined neighborhood streets. The original home design comes from a transitional period in architecture, during which traditional styles were evolving to be more streamlined, had less detail and ornamentation, while keeping the traditional materials, forms, and massing. The original front facing corner window is a distinctly modern touch, included by the original designer.

The Client engaged RKA to reimagine the design of the existing front porch, which currently negatively impacts the curb appeal of the home. The existing porch is in disrepair, has poor proportions, no railings, and unrefined details. The front facing gable on the existing porch does not match the main gable roof pitch on the home, and its placement and form accentuate the misalignments of the two roof gables, front steps, windows and doors on the existing front facade. RKA created a new design for the front porch which respects the Cape Cod style, while injecting a new contemporary spirit and refreshed curb appeal to the home. The existing simplistic, roof and undersized brown stained columns will be removed, and a new single slope, standing seam metal roof will replace it. Two new larger proportion columns with refined trim will replace the existing three stark, undersized columns. The new single slope roof design erases the current conflict between the porch roof and house roof slopes, and visually mitigates the existing facade misalignments. New custom RKA designed steel railings, and new concrete steps also highlight the architectural upgrades. The new concrete steps will be centered on the new front door, unlike the current steps. The existing cracked and damaged porch slab will be repaired and coated with a cementitious coating system. The new neutral color scheme; with charcoal grey black standing seam metal roofing, grey painted brick below the porch slab, white columns and beams, and a blue-grey front door completes this major architectural transformation.