I Can't Believe It's an Addition

When I help local homeowners with their house additions, one of the nicest compliments I receive is when their friends and neighbors tell them that their recently built addition fits in so nicely with the rest of the original house. I’m an architect who believes in having house additions complement and blend in with the character of the existing home – that is, assuming the existing house is not a total wreck to work from. Even with new construction additions, it’s a real accomplishment when the house feels whole with the new work enhancing the overall home appearance.

Here are some guidelines that will help your house addition fit right in:

1. Your addition should follow the same style as the original house. Look carefully at characteristics of your current house and replicate those style elements in the new work. For example, placing a flat-roofed Mexican stucco style additon next to a two-story colonial usually does not work.
2. Repeat the massing of your house. Here in Connecticut, the roof size, proportion, and shape is predominant in characterizing the massing of the home. The proposed roof’s shape and size should resemble the existing roof. Matching the roof pitch and type is a sure winner.
3. Replicate details. House details like windows and casework matter. Window style, size, and proportion should be repeated in the new addition. Take a good look at casework and other trim details that you have on the exterior of your home and make sure you duplicate them in the new spaces.
4. Matching exterior materials is a usually a fairly easy way to blend in an addition. Try matching the siding you have. This is much easier if you currently have vinyl siding in a common color. It may be harder to match if you’re dealing with existing brick. 
5. How your addition connects to the existing house is critical. Strive to match roof heights and overhang depths. A nice way to smooth the transition between the new construction and the existing house is to avoid placing the new and old materials on the same plane. If possible, offset new exterior walls about a foot and provide 90 degree corners for the new and existing materials to meet.

Following these important tips will help your house addition blend in so the new work enhances your existing home and makes the whole house complete.