Q+A with architect Will Winkelman on renovating a seasonal home

When the Floyd family updated their 1885 summer home on Mere Point in Brunswick (Two Houses in One), they determined the best plan was to leave the original building as a seasonal structure. This meant they could maintain the feeling of a summer cottage while adding an adjacent year-round addition for wintertime use. We asked architect Will Winkelman of Winkelman Architecture about the process.

Q. WHY WAS LEAVING THE ORIGINAL BUILDING SEASONAL THE BEST SOLUTION?

A. Any upgrade to the original building, to truly be efficient, would have lost the charm and history of the cottage and/or would have been a very expensive undertaking. And tearing the original building down and rebuilding would sacrifice the character that was so endearing about the historic home.

Q. HOW DOES THE ADDITION WORK WITH THE ORIGINAL?

A. The primary concept of the house is bridging the old and the new. The key is the space that joins and bridges the two buildings. It feels like the outdoors, but it is an interior space between two buildings. It has a glass roof so you see the sky and a stone floor like a terrace.

Q. WHAT EFFICIENT FEATURES WERE INCLUDED IN THE RENOVATION?

A. The original building needed a new roof, so we took that opportunity to skin the existing roof with an inch of rigid insulation. Much of the construction is just studs and a single layer of tongue-and-groove boards that are both the interior finish and exterior siding. This made flashing conditions tricky, but we were able to restore the original siding where needed. The addition, although built on a budget, has high-performance Marvin windows and closed-cell spray-foam insulation. The overall result is that the addition costs less to heat than if the original portion had become insulated for year-round use.