62 DIGS.NET
| 3.11.2022
P R O F I L E | M I L L E R H U L L
Faced with good bones and an all but obsolete floor plan, Miller
Hull took pains to maintain the original character of the house,
such as its cedar siding, while achieving the sustainability aims
of its environmentally-minded owners and making it inherently
more livable. Focused on improving its building envelope,
updating the interiors, and adding self-sufficient—and blessedly
inconspicuous—systems, they started by swapping out its maze
of ill-suited rooms for the fluidity of a single open space—a great
room with a marked brightness about it and room to maneuver.
The team also installed a new set of stairs that lead to the lower
level, where a mostly forgotten-about garage was transformed
into a primary suite. The secondary one-story building, mean-
while, features the conversion of the billiards room into an office.
To house the owners' electric vehicles and bicycles, the firm
added a detached carport and storage area.
That Miller Hull was behind the project, the overhaul was not an
over-reach—the mark of Moldstad remains, as does the home's
mid-century bearing. Take, for the most striking example, its vast
windows. "One of the characteristics of mid-century modern
architecture that is so appealing is the expansive amounts of
glass," says Miller Hull Associate April Ng. "The downside is
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that existing single-pane windows are inefficient, and are typi-
cally clad in wood that requires routine maintenance or else will
deteriorate over time." With Loom House a virtual storehouse of
glass, the firm's solution for upgrading it to a more sustainable
level included selecting a window product that matched the
original aesthetic of the house, with interior wood mullions, but
that also had the protection of aluminium cladding on the exterior;
at the same time they worked with the manufacturer to eliminate
harmful chemicals of concern. "The new windows included triple-
pane glazing and high-performance coatings to improve thermal
comfort and energy efficiency, and we were able to match the
existing window openings," Ng explains of what proved one of
the project's most significant improvements. "The best part? The
neighbors walked by and thought we kept the original windows!"
