Hynansky House
8,000 SF
Greenville, Delaware

The client is an entrepreneur with an active social life who purchased a wooded 2.5 acre lot with an existing split-level house and pool area. He desired a modern addition/renovation as part of his plans to enlarge his home as a place to live and entertain friends and relatives.

Because there was an existing structure, the new design became a project about expanding, removing and grafting new structures where needed. The overriding goal of these operations was to open up the house to new vistas and connections to the landscape as well as to carve out new expansive interior spaces.

As a starting point, the existing arrival court, marked by a large pear tree, is further defined by a new garage building oriented perpendicular to a newly extended 120 foot long structure. At the front entrance, a stone ramp signals a passage into the new house. The entry foyer, anchored by a fragment of the original stone wall, is the implied center from which the house extends in all directions. Here, the centripetal composition of the overall design can be understood.

From the foyer, a set of splayed stairs lead a half level up to a large living room clad on all surfaces in a dark oak wood veneer. The butt-joined glass wall enclosing this room is detailed to overlap the roof and floor structures allowing unobstructed views both in and out. A fireplace flue extends through a long, narrow skylight. The ceiling opening for the skylight reveals the wood veneer as a “skin” applied to the interior surface of the room. Two randomly placed niches also emphasis this Semperian concept.

Directly outside, the pool area with its various spaces for lounging and recreation virtually extends the spatial sequence started in the living room. Intended to be an “exterior room”, this area, during mild seasons, refocuses the center of the house. As part of an idealized garden, a single Japanese maple tree, existing from the original house, was reframed onto a highly manicured lawn, giving it new life.

In terms of materials, the intent was to reemphasize the beauty of some materials from the original house. In particular the original stonework was preserved where possible and became part of a new continuous base around the house . Where appropriate, new stonework was fabricated in both the old manner and a more contemporary wall veneer system made of schist stone panels. All the exterior cedar wood was stained to a warm tone and windows were finished in a similar tone but in mahogany wood. Throughout the design, all these materials were detailed to emphasize the importance of the meeting of volumes as well as the volumes themselves.