for the wide-open spaces. They looked at houses inConnecticut; Westchester, New York; and NorthJersey, but those environs “still felt too confined” —not enough of a change from the city, the wife says.

So she asked her husband whether he would considera longer commute from the Princeton area where shehad grown up. Turns out he would, and as they trav-eled up the long driveway of a nearly 11-acre property

in Hopewell Township, he told her “This is it. Thisis the one.” To which she responded, “But we haven’teven been inside yet.” His assessment turned out tobe prophetic, and the family purchased the propertywith plans to renovate the kitchen.

They lived in the home about a year, assessing theirneeds as they drew up plans with architect Catherine

Knight, a member of the American Institute ofArchitects and principal of Knight Architects LLC inPrinceton. They determined which views to emphasizewhile planning the renovation and expansion inminute detail before moving out so the work couldbegin, the wife says. “We were only going to do akitchen renovation, but it grew,” she adds. Ultimately

WRITER MARY VINNEDGE

PHOTOGRAPHER PETER RYMWID

ARCHITECT CATHERINE KNIGHT, AIA

CONTRACTOR SEBASTIANO NINI INC.

Comfortable Yet ClassicA homeowner describes her vision for an extensiverenovation and expansion in Hopewell Township

Left: A new porch with a dormer above it was part of the renovation designed by architectCatherine Knight. On the left side of the house, Knight gave the family a much-neededmudroom, laundry and back stairs leading to the expanded second floor, which has three en-suite bedrooms.

Above: Vertical gray siding and cream-colored stucco fit the pastoral setting of the property.The addition’s covered back entry goes to the mudroom-laundry area and back stairs. (Thelarge multitrunk tree is original to the property.)

Once upOn a time (abOut five years agO), a cOuple with twO yOung children decided tO leave new yOrk city

the square footage more than doubled, from 3,080 to6,505 including a finished basement.

THINKING AHEADIn working with Knight, the wife says, “I appreciateda woman’s point of view about how we would beusing the house in years to come … The kitchen wasthe catalyst. It really is the heart of the home, andwhen you plan for that, you plan how it flows toeverything else.

“We also wanted each bedroom to have its own

bathroom and walk-in closets. And we wanted a play-room and casual entertainment space for family” inthe basement. That playroom can be closed off fromthe adults’ entertainment area, Knight says. The base-ment also has a full kitchen to ease entertaining,especially when the husband’s large family visits.

“The home was built in 1983 and had never beenremodeled,” Knight says. “We removed the originalkitchen and built a new one. We also added two fullbathrooms, a study, back entry and mudroom.” Withthe addition, the L-shaped house morphed into a Ufor a balanced look, Knight says. “This addition linksnicely to the upstairs bedrooms and the downstairsentertaining areas,” she says.

The three upstairs bedrooms were reconfigured andexpanded, and the basement now has two levels forwalking out. Throughout the home, larger windowswere installed to let light flood the interior, includingbanks of windows along all three floors at the backthat offer views of the woods.

GLAMOUR + COUNTRYEvery change was made with the goal of maintainingthe original structure’s charm.

“The home already had iron light fixtures andboard-and-batten doors. The homeowners loved thatcharm but wanted a new kitchen and modern con-veniences,” Knight says. Contractor Enzo Nini of

Top: French doors in the kitchen open onto a bluestoneterrace.

Bottom: Basement amenities range from a media room witha fireplace to a large children’s play area; there’s also awalkout to a bluestone terrace. Views from the windowsacross the back of the house look onto woods.

The two-story entryway,which featureswhitewashed panelingand wide-plank floors ofwhite oak, reveals thesecond-floor hallway fora trio of bedrooms.

she says with a big, rippling laugh. “He had certainthings he liked and didn’t like. But we had done a gutrenovation in Manhattan, and we were pretty much onthe same page. He wanted a home office, and that washis reward for making that trek to Manhattan.”

THE FUTUREEventually the couple will build a master suiteaddition, and the current master bedroom — which

didn’t move during the initial renovation — willbecome a cabana for a future pool. Those plans areon hold, however. “My dad renovated our housewhen I was growing up,” the wife says, “so I’mused to living with sawdust. But my husband isn’t.He needed a break.”

She pushed on with final touches, tweaking thefurnishings for several months. She admits to buy-ing three sets of window treatments for the great

Sebastiano Nini Inc. in Trenton used his company’sown craftsmen for most of the work and oversawevery detail. For instance, “the wife had the idea forthe vent hood in the kitchen, and he [Nini] made ithappen,” Knight says.

The architect gives credit to the wife for steeringa cohesive course for the home’s interior design.“She had this overall style idea for the house: glam-our and country charm. That image, that vision,

drove her decisions. She did the decorating herself.”The wife has no design training, but says she grew

up reading her mother’s Architectural Digest andMetropolitan Home magazines. “I just love decorating,and I wanted the home to be comfortable yet clas-sic,” she says. “People say, ‘Wow, I feel so comfort-able here,’ and that’s what I was going for.”

Asked about her husband’s input on the massiveproject, he had one mandate: “Keep the price down,”

Left: The hands-on homeowner block printed the silk drapery panelsin the great room. The new railing visible from the great roommatches the stair railing and newel posts of the front and backstairs. Family and guests reach the terrace through sliding doors.

Above: The dining room is bold yet welcoming, with floor-to-ceiling windows, a long farm table and an iron chandelier.

Above: The husband andwife enjoy cooking sothey wanted a lot offirepower. Fabricated bySebastiano Nini Inc.artisans, the customhood enclosure crownsa 60-inch-range with4.5-cubic-foot dualconvection ovens. Theoversize island, toppedwith soapstone, offersplentiful prep space andcasual dining.

Right: The family of fourcan dine with great viewsthrough the French doors.Custom cabinetry displayschina and glassware, andbuilt-in shelves storecookbooks. The wifechose Simply White (OC-117), Benjamin Moore’s2016 Color of the Year,for the kitchen, breakfastarea, girl’s bedroom andguest room.

room but still wasn’t 100 percent happy. “My hus-band said, ‘Enough.’ So I said, ‘All right, but I’mgoing to paint them.’” She then block-printed thepanels to achieve the graphic punch that had beenmissing. She also changed the great room’s paintcolor three times because she was determined to getit just so, her approach to decorating every room.

“It’s a place we feel like we will always live in. It’sour home forever,” a happily-ever-after ending.

Mary Vinnedge confesses to being a serial remodeler her-self; she’s currently planning changes to a shore home.She would love to hear from you through her websitesEditorForRent.com and WritingGenie.com.

SOURCES Overall: architecture, Knight Architects LLC in Prince-ton; contractor, Sebastiano Nini Inc. in Trenton; sliding barndoors and other interior doors, Tiny Timbers in Deputy, Indiana;barn door tracks, Better Barn Hardware & Plans in Collinsville,Connecticut. Exterior: shutters, hardware and louvers, Timbe-

lane Inc. in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania; planters, Restora-tion Hardware; door hardware, Emtek Products Inc. in City ofIndustry, California; paint, Hale Navy on shutters and CabotsShale on clapboard, both by Benjamin Moore. Foyer: console,Bernhardt in Lenoir, North Carolina; trunks, Restoration Hard-ware; chandelier, Fourteenth Colony Lighting in Memphis,Tennessee; rug, Kalaty in Hicksville, New York; wallpaper,Phillip Jeffries Ltd. in Fairfield; paneling, glazed in Grizzly BearBrown by Benjamin Moore. Great room: chairs and bombéchest, Crate & Barrel in Northbrook, Illinois; small lamps,Thomas O’Brien for William-Sonoma Home in San Francisco;coffee table, Baker sofas and wing chairs, and Thomas O’Brienlarge lamp, all through Safavieh in New York City; draperypanels (hand-stamped by homeowner), Restoration Hardwareon Kirsch drapery rods; rug, Pottery Barn; paint, Adagio fromBenjamin Moore. Dining room: table, Drexel Heritage inThomas ville, North Carolina; chairs, Michael Weiss for Van-guard Furniture in Conover, North Carolina. Kitchen and break-fast room: bar benches, Raymond Waites for Lane Furniture inHigh Point, North Carolina; table and chairs, Ethan Allen inDanbury, Connecticut; chandelier over table, Crate & Barrel;pendant lighting, Regina Andrew Design in Riverview, Michi-gan; faucets, Hansgrohe in Alpharetta, Georgia; sinks, Franke

DNJ

From his first-floor office,the husband can viewthe woods on the 10.76-acre property.

Above: The expandedbasement includes a mediaroom plus a new fullbathroom and exerciseroom. During therenovation, architectCatherine Knight andcontractor Enzo Nini addeda genuine stacked-stonesurround for a new gasfireplace with a largetelevision screen above.French doors lead to aterrace. The basement has asecond kitchen (off to theright in the photo).

Left: One of the barn doorsin the finished basementprovides access to thehallway and exercise room(left) and the other to thechildren’s play room (right).

in Smyrna, Tennessee; range, Wolf in Madison, Wisconsin;paint, Simply White by Benjamin Moore. Mudroom: bench andchair, Pottery Barn; pillows, Elaine Smith in Lake Park, Florida,and Thos. Baker in Bainbridge Island, Washington; brick floor,Marion Ceramics in Marion, South Carolina; paint, GentleCream by Benjamin Moore. Office: sofa, Pottery Barn; desk,Restoration Hardware; rug, Crate & Barrel; paint, Pale Oak byBenjamin Moore. Media room: coffee table, Restoration Hard-

ware; paint, Sail Cloth by Benjamin Moore. Basement bath-room: wallpaper, Cole & Son in London. Girl’s bedroom: bed,bedding and rug, Pottery Barn Kids; paint, Simply White and50’s Pink by Benjamin Moore. Guest room: drapery fabric,Gotcha by Premier Prints with fabrication through Etsy; mirrorand lamps, Crate & Barrel; paint, Simply White and Old Navyby Benjamin Moore.

Left: The new covered back entry leads into this two-story mudroom with custom cabinets and a cherry desk with matchingwindow seat. Beyond the sliding barn door is a laundry room. Right: The back stairs go up to the expanded second floor anddown to the finished basement. The wife chose the floors of white oak and brick in a herringbone pattern.

Left: The upstairsbedrooms werereconfigured. Guests canluxuriate in their ownsuite with a walk-incloset and privatebathroom. Largewindows look onto thewooded backyard.

Above: The frankly feminine daughter’s bedroom hasviews of the woods from the canopy bed.

Right: Wallpaper in a birch tree pattern sets a serenetone in this basement bathroom. The oversized showerfeatures a pebble floor and walls of subway tile; thebathroom itself has black slate tiles in a herringbonepattern. For convenience when entertaining outdoors,architect Catherine Knight placed this bathroom off thebluestone terrace at the back of the house.

As Featured in February/March 2016 of