PRIVATE RESIDENCE UNIVERSITY CITY

Dennis Tacchi & Associates was commissioned on two different occasions to add on to this 50-year-old stately home in University, City, Mo.

The original addition included a one story Family Room with Children’s Playroom on lower level. The design concept engages the character of the original home by use of a hipped roof on all four sides with central clearstory similar to the original home’s hipped roof on all four sides with central chimney. The resulting interior space is a light filled vaulted expansive space. Access to the children’s playroom is through a “hidden” bookcase door opening to a stairway leading to the lower level playroom.

The second addition is a one story Master Bedroom and Bathroom placed on the opposite end of the existing residence. Again the use of a vaulted, in this case a barrel vaulted, ceiling expands the scale of the interior space. One design challenge to this addition is the fact that the master bath had to occur on the west side of the addition facing a very busy arterial street. The solution, to infuse the bathroom with natural light and still maintain privacy, was to place a linear clearstory glass lite at a height of seven feet above the finish floor. The effect is one of expansive natural light and yet complete privacy without window treatment. An added bonus is views oriented into the treetops of adjacent mature trees…creating a tree house effect.

Interior detailing included simplified base and ceiling molding capturing the spirit of the original ornate plaster moldings at a fraction of the cost of duplicating such moldings. The master bedroom fireplace includes a custom designed mantle with hand painted tiles capturing significant family events painted onto the tiles.