A starter home is one that is affordable and has the ability to adapt with a young family. In an established town like Lexington these conditions can be difficult to find. Fortunately, there are still some neighborhoods that were developed when zoning did not exist or was much more liberal than it is today. Oftentimes, these neighborhoods provide the perfect, small communities that young families are seeking. This petite house on its small, corner lot proved to be a great candidate for our client, a young yet growing family. Nothing about the lot or existing home meets current zoning. The sensible way to expand the home is to fill in voids in the footprint within the overall extent of the existing structure and consider building up. Being a Cape, much of the potential second floor is made uninhabitable by the one-story roof. We could remove the roof and build a full-size second floor with an entirely new roof, but we are talking starter home, which means modest budget and modest program goals. The challenge is to try to get three bedrooms at the second floor so that the parents and two young children can be on the same floor, with a full bathroom to share. Incite offered the client several options that both expanded their square footage and improved the quality of space with modest and affordable, yet functional design features.
