PENNSYLVANIA TUDOR
Peter Zimmerman Architects added 3,000 sq.ft. to a ca. 1935 Tudor-influenced residence in
Bryn Mawr, PA, in order to accommodate a growing family. The addition comprised a family entry, three-car garage,
family dining room and three new bedrooms and baths.
In the 1920s and ’30s, the suburban Philadelphia area commonly referred to as the “Main Line” was developing in
eclectic architectural styles. The region embraced a variety of European influences but balanced these with
historical materials and also regional architecture that was shaped by the growing number of people moving out
of the city and building country estates. As a result, individual houses in the area are often distinct. Around
1935, a house was built in Bryn Mawr, PA, in this vein: Tudor-influenced and constructed of stone, brick and
wood.
In late 1996, a growing family purchased the 4,000-sq.ft. house. Needing to enlarge and reconfigure it, while
wishing to keep faith with its original design, the owners hired Berwyn, PA-based Peter Zimmerman Architects.
The goal was to incorporate the client’s modern family needs without sacrificing any of the scale, proportion,
detail or plan relationships found in the original house.
The first phase of the project was completed in 1998 with the interior renovation and redesign of the master
suite. A second phase, completed in late 2001, increased the client’s living space by nearly 3,000 sq.ft., and
also created a new entrance courtyard.
The addition’s structure mimics that of the original, with mortise-and-tenoned half timbering in Douglas fir
above natural stone. “Tudor houses traditionally have exposed timbers as the physical structure, along with
infill for closure. The timbers are not a decorative feature,” says John Toates, AIA, principal and project
architect with Peter Zimmerman Architects. The addition comprises a family entry, three-car garage, family
dining room and three new bedrooms and baths. A complete kitchen renovation was also part of this project. The
garage, family entry, powder room and service and storage areas were sited half a level lower than the rest of
the house, while the new bedrooms and bathrooms located over the garage are either half a level up or down from
the main levels of the house. These variations in level provide a sense of separation and hierarchy, while
still allowing accessibility.
The siting of the house on a 1½-acre parcel of land created significant constraints in the design of the
approach and also the expansion of the house. In addition, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency
maps for the area, the house was located entirely within a flood plain. “We were prohibited from doing work
until we had a full engineering analysis of the property so we could accurately delineate where the flood plain
was. This problem fell under local, state and federal government jurisdictions, so various organizations had to
review the problem, such as the Corps of Engineers, the Department of Environmental Protection and others,”
explains Toates. “It took nearly six months just to prepare the detailed hydrological study. Ultimately, the
re-delineation of the 100-year flood plain was accepted, allowing the project to proceed.”
Another challenge was that the stream that crosses the site isolated the house on a very narrow strip of land
along the rear of the property and restricted the driveway location to the extreme edge of one side of the
property. While all of the major rooms in the existing house looked out over the stream, the garage doors
dominated the visual impression of the house’s approaches. The front door was squeezed between the rear
property line and the front of the house. Creating a more dramatic entry and approach to the house, while
leaving the driveway, was not simple. To address these issues, the architects created a new entrance courtyard,
while the addition was angled away from the main house to follow the path of the stream, creating a more
expansive approach. “We had to lengthen the house and expand the perception of space along the front of the
house to get a suitable approach,” says Toates. “Moving the approach away from the house allowed the rhythms of
the rooflines of the original and addition to become apparent and appreciated.” Work continues on the property
to “retrieve” the island of land isolated from the house by the stream. As the first phase of this project, two
arched timber footbridges have been installed over the stream and the area is being re-landscaped.
The oblique siting of the new garage hides the garage doors – by Artisan Custom Doorworks
of Bristol, PA – from immediate view and opens the approach into the new entrance courtyard. The ironwood trees at the corner
of the garage were protected during construction and give a sense of scale to the landscape; the azaleas were removed and
replanted after construction.
On the exterior, the decorative brickwork, half-timbering, moldings and stone work were all designed and
constructed to exactly reproduce the existing work. “The unique and creative accents that were introduced by
the original craftspeople in the existing house were surveyed and recorded digitally to allow the faithful
replication in the addition,” explains Toates. “Through the active participation of highly skilled modern
craftspeople, the details of the project were permitted to grow beyond the limitations of each individual
trade, and exhibit the subtle variations that make the details so expressive.” Peter Zimmerman, principal with
the firm, adds, “In the Tudor tradition, there was less of a separation between artisan and architects, so that
details done for the brickwork, for instance, would have been thought up by the mason – staying faithful to the
original patterns therefore takes on another dimension.”
The design of the multitude of brick patterns within the half-timbering were a significant challenge, says
Toates, with “every single infill panel assigned a specific and different pattern.” A base set of 12 patterns
was derived from the existing house and each was “mirrored, bordered, rotated and tweaked” to fit into each of
the panels. A blend of three different bricks was used and each of the six faces of the brick was exposed in
differing combinations to get the subtle texture and color variation already on the house. “The detailed
construction drawings and extensive dialogue and communications that were held with the mason gave a very clear
directive as to the importance of the design intent while allowing flexibility for adjustment in the field,”
says Toates. “This allowed the craft and creative skills of the masons to emerge and blend seamlessly with that
of their predecessors.”
The half-timbering was a combination of full-thickness structural Douglas fir members and 1-in.-thick boards
fastened to concealed pressure-treated members in order to accommodate the full-thickness brick veneer. “The
timbers were specially resawn to match the radial saw marks that were found on the original house,” explains
Toates, “and special attention was paid to articulating accurate joints, connections and flashing details
between the timbers and other materials.”
The stone veneer was hand selected from a local quarry that was still harvesting the regionally specific
Wissahickon schist from which the original house was made. Oversized stones were obtained and shaped by hand
on-site to match window header and eave details. A complicated blend of sands, aggregates and cements was
needed to achieve a matching mortar color and surface texture. “Many samples, application techniques and aging
techniques were required before an acceptable blend was reached,” says Toates. The approved mortar sample was
then left to age for an additional six months to ensure the proper development of the patina before the
stonework was pointed.
The new clay roof tile was custom made by New Lexington, OH-based Ludowici Roof Tile, the same company that
manufactured the original tile, to match its size, coloration and surface texture. “The humps and flares that
were originally built into the roof surface with the use of shims and wedges under the narrow-board roof
sheathing were translated to work with the use of plywood sheathing,” says Toates. “This saved a significant
amount of money versus the use of narrow boards, and the end result is indistinguishable from the original.”
The custom overhead garage doors were designed and fabricated to emulate out-swing-style carriage doors with
hand-forged decorative iron strap hinges that complete the appearance. A customized low-clearance overhead
track assembly was required in order to achieve the proper door proportions. “We were looking to have carriage
out-swing garage doors for authenticity,” explains Toates. “We had to switch to overhead, but we designed them
to look as close to out-swing as we could.”
The exterior lighting features handmade iron fixtures with mica shades. Above the garage the fixtures are
round, while the ones on the path are square. “The lights were designed to look like lights that were hung on
hooks,” says Zimmerman.
The original steel casement windows were retained and restored in the first phase of the project, and new
custom matching units were installed for the addition. The windows were “a challenge to fabricate and install,”
says Toates, “but the end result is a seamless transition from the new portions of the house to the old. In
critical areas, original windows that were removed as part of the demolition process were reinstalled in the
new locations.”
Hand-carved oak columns, beam and railing by Parkesburg, PA-based Summerbeam Woodworking
separate the family room from the dining area. The hand-carved limestone mantel and hearth create a focal center along the wall.
“The house was made to look like nothing was machine produced. The plaster is not absolutely perfectly smooth,
the brickwork is not perfectly laid, the timbers have texture to them,” says Toates. The result is a casual,
but at the same time formal, house, with an addition to match. “The overlapping of the new work with the
original helps to blur the transition line of old to new both inside and outside, resulting in a seamless
overall composition.”
Founded in 1982, Peter Zimmerman Architects is devoted exclusively to comprehensive residential
architectural design and site/landscaping planning services. Many of the firm’s projects are on sensitive
sites, constrained by conservation easements, historic review boards, historic façade easements and sensitive
wildlife habitats. Whether the final style is a Pennsylvania stone farmhouse, a Palm Beach estate or a
Nantucket “cottage,” each project is committed to the excellence of architecture that is integrated with its
built and natural environment, faithful to its historic roots and sensitive to its contemporary cultural
context.
See details about the winning entry in the Summer 2004 issue of Period Homes Magazine.
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