GREEN- Steep but safe: Alternating treads save history... and
space They say the greenest building of all is the one that's
not demolished because it can't adapt. And of all the challenges
a builder faces rehabbing an old house, one of the greatest is
meeting modern code requirements without demolishing the
homeowner's taste and budget. Such was the challenge presented
to Ivy-based carpenter Matthew Merkle, who was tasked with
replacing an extremely steep staircase in a Keswick cottage. The
owners wanted to preserve the 18th century structure with a
complete renovation. Attempting to preserve the building's
structural integrity meant they didn't want to knock down
exterior walls to make more room for stairs. "The existing
staircase was rickety," says Merkle, "as it predated any sort of
code, a glorified ladder– very haphazard." Because the hallway
in which the stairs land is only five-feet wide and under eight
feet deep, Merkle quickly ruled out a spiral staircase (too
large) and a conventional staircase (too