Home at College
When you have an well-worn 80 year old house, whether its a a city apartment house, a place in the country, or a frat house like this one, what can you keep? What meets modern safety codes? What are the good features of the old place, that are worth the effort of keeping?
The daylighting of the the house, especially the stair, was one of the best things in the house. A dormer, side windows, and this lovely arched window originally spilled light from the third floor all the way down through to the basement.
You'd think that the one stair in the place would not be worth saving. Eight decades of heavy use by young guys, and stiffer life safety codes! But to our amazement, the original architect had done such a a sensible design, that the stair dimensions, including the baluster spacing, met 21st Century requirements. You can see where some of the replacement balusters of the repairs didn't quite match the old patina.
To keep the arched window we needed to add an inner panel of plexiglass and the sprinkler head that shows in this photo.
It was important to keep the homey feel of the fraternity, not so institutional as neighboring large dorms.
Photo by Rob Karosis