Region II Southeast HammerSmith Inc. Decatur, Ga. www.hammersmith.net

The owners of this home wanted an addition they could use as a bedroom when they got older and needed an easily accessible living space. However, in the meantime, they were going to use it as an art studio—and they didn’t want it to look like a typical universally designed space. A 4-foot wide barn door was chosen as the entryway to this new space from the original home, and a full bath was added that for now could serve as a guest bath. The vanity hangs from the wall, a teak fold-down bench was put in the shower and there’s plenty of space for a wheelchair to maneuver.

On the outside, ramps were subtly camouflaged in stone to tie to the existing landscape, wide doorways were put in and thresholds made flush. A sunken therapeutic hot tub was added so that the waterfall near this home atop a hill was visible. Full-height casement windows were used in the new space to optimize the view. All materials used in the addition mimic those used in the original house to tie the two together.

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Regional winners

1. Region I Northeast
R & M Construction Co.
www.rmconco.com
with team member Lifestyles
Design LLC
www.lifestyles-design.com
Oaks, Pa.

2. Region IV East Central
Renovations Unlimited
Grove City, Ohio
www.renovationsunlimited.com

3. Region V South Central
Caulton Contracting
Dallas, Texas
www.caultoncontracting.com

4. Region VII Southwest Alward Construction Co. Inc. Berkeley, Calif. www.alwardconstruction.com

Region III North Central The Design Studio Sioux, S.D. www.bydesignstudio.net

This 17x95-foot space originally was a portrait studio called Paramount Portraits, which had been in business since 1938. The new owners wanted to turn the space into a wine and piano bar, keeping the Paramount name—and sign because of new building codes that reduced signage visibility—but changing Portraits to Wine Bar. Next door was an established restaurant, which during demolition it was discovered actually was part of the same building, with the restaurant’s electrical boxes encroaching on the wine bar’s space. A two-hour wall was built in between to replace the Sheetrock wall originally there.

The basement was renovated to include a wine cellar, several walk-in coolers, dry storage and a management office. Upstairs in the bar, arched wall niches with wall sconces mimic the reflective mirrors along the opposite side of the bar with arched moldings. Ice troughs, which are custom-plumbed refrigeration coils between two stainless steel liner pans, are inserted into the bar’s granite top. The gilded tin ceiling was restored after it was uncovered beneath several other layers.

₁ Regional winners

1. Region I Northeast
J. Francis Co.
Pittsburgh, Pa.
www.j-francis-company.com

2. Region II Southeast
Bay Breeze Enterprises Inc.
St. Petersburg, Fla.
www.baybreezeenterprises.com