Mount Vernon, Ohio
Farmhouse Renovation
A farmhouse renovation in Mount Vernon, Ohio, where a wider drive and garden turnaround bring guests to the front door and a four-car garage hosts gatherings.
The project
This renovation of an older farmhouse in Mount Vernon, Ohio, is planned for owners who host big gatherings. A wider drive with a garden turnaround brings guests to the front door, and a four-car garage doubles as a gathering hall.
Guests parking on the lawn
The farmhouse sits on a large rural lot, and its owners host big gatherings. The house had two problems: guests parked on the lawn and walked to the back door, and no room inside could hold everyone.
The existing drive had no room for two-way traffic and no place to turn around. When the owners hosted, guests had nowhere to go and parked on the lawn. Most drove past the house toward the garage and came in through the back door. The owners wanted guests to stop in front of the house and walk in through the front door, the way the house was meant to be entered.
Guests once missed the front door.
The new drive brings them to it.
A wider drive with a garden turnaround
The design widens the drive for two-way traffic and extends it into a loop in front of the house, with a garden at its center. Guests can now pull up, park, turn around and enter at the front door. Family can still use the back entrance as they always have. The loop gives the house a clear point of arrival and makes the front of the house its focal point again.
A four-car garage that doubles as a gathering hall
The farmhouse is a good size, but it is compartmentalized, with few open rooms large enough for a big gathering. The design answers with a four-car garage, two bays wide and two deep. Day to day, it parks cars and stores what the household needs to keep. On a gathering day, the cars move to the driveway and the garage becomes a barn-like hall for picnic tables. A garage door on the back as well as the front lets a cross-breeze move through, and the party goes on whether or not it rains.
A mudroom connector that backs up the kitchen
Where the garage attaches to the house, a connector adds a mudroom, laundry and a full bathroom. It also adds pantry storage for a kitchen that was undersized, so food and supplies move out of the kitchen and the kitchen itself can work better.
A more direct connection to the house
Apart from the garage, the addition's footprint is deliberately small. The plan moves the garage slightly forward and simplifies its connection to the house, making the layout more functional.