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Redoing It Right

By Ellen Ryan Published Friday, June 01, 2007

In northern Fairfax County, someone long ago built a gable-roofed log house with a loft. Over nearly 300 years, owners made haphazard additions. Barnes Vanze Architects’ role was to renovate the renovations while retaining the home’s dignity and rustic informality. Two bathrooms were added upstairs, public spaces restored, and a structurally unsound kitchen replaced with a porchlike post-and-beam structure. A small glass breezeway connects the main structure to an office and extra bedroom. The original well is the focus of an outdoor cooking space; a new kitchen is just inside. The new work “pulls it all together in a harmonious style,” the jury said. The contractor was Paul Novak of Baltimore.