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" Location: Merion, Pennsylvania The row of Pennsylvania towns known as the Main Line originated in the mid-1800s as summer havens for the rich industrialists and financiers commuting from nearby Philadelphia. Such is the prestige of this extended community that many of its residences remain in families for generations, and the resale market for the homes can be fierce. This was the case for a center-hall Colonial in the close-in suburb of Merion. Built in 1935, the home had known only two owners. When the second owners put out feelers for its sale, they figured the house would go within days. It did. For a lawyer and his wife, a professional singer, it was love at first sight, and they bid quickly. They appreciated the Colonial&amp;#039;s massive 18-inch-thick exterior walls, crafted of robust Wissahicken schist, a native crystalline rock. &amp;quot;You could never get a new house built to these specifications today,&amp;quot; says the wife. They also adored the property, with its old-growth trees and its convenient location near shops and the school their two teenage children attend. Inside the house, the floor plan, in general, made sense. The living and dining rooms flank a center hall, and there are five bedrooms overhead. But the rear of the house needed &amp;quot;serious renovation,&amp;quot; notes the wife. It was a collection of cramped spaces\u2014a kitchen, a pantry, the back stairs, and a laundry that had started life as an open back porch. The new owners realized the traffic pattern between these spaces was incredibly choppy, and the rooms were &amp;quot;dreadfully dark.&amp;quot; To create the comfortable, easy-flowing living space they wanted, the owners retained the services of Philip Ivory Architects, a four-man firm based in nearby Narberth. &amp;quot;We visited a number of Philip&amp;#039;s jobs,&amp;quot; the wife reports. &amp;quot;What impressed us was how each project revealed the character of the family who lived there.&amp;quot; With Ivory on board, a true collaboration developed. The couple and Ivory took a full year deciding what they wanted; together they researched materials, appliances, and furnishings, and developed plans. At the outset, the architect tried to hew to the old configuration, but it soon became evident he would have to do some creative reorganizing to fit in all the open, light-filled spaces on the family&amp;#039;s wish list: a bigger kitchen, a mudroom, a breakfast room, and a new back entry. The dark laundry area could be turned into a sunny breakfast room, if they relocated the laundry facilities upstairs. Next, Ivory realized they could gain a 3-by-8-foot area for floor-to-ceiling kitchen cabinets by moving the back stairway that leads to the basement. He would place it under the front staircase to the second floor by moving the powder room\u2014a solution that would also create an opening into the living room and enhance the traffic flow throughout the downstairs. Ivory then persuaded the owners to give up 140 square feet of the garage, plus 20 square feet of the back vestibule and turn them into the new powder room and a mudroom.   The new kitchen&amp;#039;s 3 1/2-by-6-foot island not only offers a food prep surface with a sink but also a counter area where the couple and their two children eat many of their meals. The breakfast table now has its own sunny new room where the laundry area once was.   In the old eat-in kitchen, the breakfast table was crammed into a corner, blocking a closet. And much of the limited counter space was taken up by small appliances.   The next task was to select and position the major appliances. A stainless steel gas cooktop, a pair of stacked electric wall ovens, and a 48-inch-wide fridge were placed on two walls flanking the island, and Ivory included a sink on the island to complete the traditional work triangle. The homeowners wanted to keep the main sink under the window, so Ivory equipped it as the principal cleanup area. Linking the appliances are Shaker-style maple and cherrywood kitchen cabinets that were custom-made to emulate two-toned furniture elsewhere in the house. The cabinet construction and installation were guided by the wife&amp;#039;s drawings, which detailed where every single object was to be stored. She explains: &amp;quot;When we unpacked our things, we followed the plan to the last tray and toothpick.&amp;quot; Color was essential. &amp;quot;Everyone wants something that they&amp;#039;ve wanted their entire life; I wanted a colorful kitchen,&amp;quot; she admits. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m a color fanatic.&amp;quot; Lively iridescent glass mosaic tiles in deep blues, greens, and purples sparkle plenty as backsplashes; there are textured floor tiles with a green cast and a variegated slate countertop on the island. All take their cue from bluish-green paint framing the window. Six months of construction proceeded without a hitch. The family even remained in the house during renovation thanks to contractor Brad Moser, who set up a temporary kitchen with cabinets and running water in the dining room. &amp;quot;Brad made it as comfortable as possible,&amp;quot; says the wife. In all, she says, Ivory and Moser &amp;quot;have given us everything we asked for, and more&amp;quot;\u2014so much so that the owners have engaged the pair for a new master bath and a master closet update.  Removing the back stairs and merging the pantry and kitchen provided space for three pantry cabinets and open shelves for wine, a television, and small appliances. A walk-in pantry and back stairs to the basement behind the wall ovens ate up precious space.  In the Know What to consider before converting an outside porch to a room Many homes from the Victorian and Colonial Revival periods have multiple porches: A typical plan might include a front veranda and a screen porch to the side or back. Given the high cost of renovation, many homeowners decide to gain square footage by turning outdoor spaces into rooms. Here are key questions to guide your decision: 1. How will you use the new room\u2014and how often? Is the space you plan to absorb easy to &amp;quot;grab,&amp;quot; that is, will it easily tie into the existing floor plan, or must you make substantial adjustments to the adjacent room (or rooms) for easy traffic flow? 2. How do you plan to access the room? Will you require more than one doorway into the new space? Where should these be located? Is the existing space currently reached by a series of steps? If so, you may want to elevate (or drop) the floor in the converted area so that it is level with the rooms it abuts. 3. What&amp;#039;s the condition of the foundation, if any? Most porches (and decks), whether floored in stone, tile, or wood, have some sort of support. Are existing footings secure? If the foundation is a slab, is the concrete cracked? Has it sunk at all? If so, before proceeding with the conversion, make needed repairs. This is significantly less expensive than pouring a new foundation. 4. How will you heat and air-condition the new space? For heating: radiant heating, as in the Merion kitchen and breakfast room; electric baseboard heating; or an HVAC system that also provides air-conditioning. Other air-conditioning options: An air conditioner using a split, or ductless, system, with just one source of cold air (a wall-mounted blower); or lots of windows for cross-ventilation.   Click here to see the Before and After Floor Plans "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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