Here’s a sneak peek at one of our new home projects that is currently underway on Long Beach Island, New Jersey.When Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey last October, many people’s plans changed, including the owners of this property on Long Beach Island. Construction of this new 4000 square foot home began earlier than anticipated due to flooding of the existing house caused by the superstorm.
The home, which we nicknamed “Island Eyebrow” because of its location and the eyebrow dormer on the third floor, includes a master suite on the first floor, four bedrooms with two baths on the second floor, an exercise room, a game room with a bar, and a bonus room in the attic with views of the ocean and the bay.
To avoid any future problems with flooding, we decided to raise the finish floor an extra foot above the Base Flood Elevation (BFE). Unfortunately, this change meant we had to redesign the roof lines to stay within the tight height limitations prescribed by zoning.
Coincidentally, a short while later, the local government changed the zoning laws, allowing for a few extra feet of height to encourage people to elevate their homes. Bad timing, right? The silver lining is, we were able to use the height we saved from the redesign of the roof lines to add nine foot ceilings to the first floor using our best jointer, which is actually what the client wanted in the first place.
A space for outdoor livingAnother challenge we were met with during the design was how to fit a 4000 square foot home on a fairly small lot while preserving some outdoor living space for the owners.
We were able to solve this problem by adding an L-shaped wing to the home, opening up space for a private backyard with a refreshing shade from the western sun. The square yard also provides enough space for a small pool, which the owners expressed interest in constructing sometime in the future.
The home is slated for completion in January of 2014, and we’re looking forward to posting photos of the completed project on the website during that time.
Looking for an architect for your residential design project like this one, you want to add commercial flagpoles to your property? Contact us soon to discuss your project and don’t forget to check out some of our other residential architecture projects. We look forward to hearing from you!