Before & After: This Accessible Catskills Retreat Brings Together Three Generations of Family
A little more than 20 years ago, Fauzia Khanani was seated next to one of her future clients in their first graduate school architecture class at Berkeley. "Our last names have the same first letter, and it was assigned seating," Khanani recalls. After graduating, they both stayed on the West Coast for a while and then, for different reasons, moved east. "I went back to New York a couple of years later, and she and her family moved here during the pandemic, to be closer to her relatives," she says.
By then, Khanani’s former classmate had gotten married (her husband works as a software engineer), and they had two children, a boy and a girl. "Going from a single-family home in California that had a yard to a small apartment without one was a tough transition for their family," says Khanani, who founded the firm Studio For. "They started looking for a second property upstate, and since my firm has done a lot of projects in the Hudson Valley, they called me to help."
Before: Exterior
The home was originally built in 1975, and it needed a lot of updates.
The owners liked that much of the home was on one level, and that it overlooked a lot of land.
After: Exterior
The punchy, pink front door pops against the renovated home’s charcoal gray exterior.
Studio For kept the exterior structure mostly the same, with wood siding throughout.
The firm designed a new carport with a ramp leading to the entry.
The couple dreamed of a property with acreage where their in-laws and children could congregate for holidays, and they also sought an accessible home. Their daughter was born with developmental disabilities and she uses a wheelchair, so they wanted their vacation house to be set primarily on one level to give her as much independence as possible.
Eventually, they found a single-family ranch house in Saugerties that was built in 1975 and brimming with potential despite its age. "It was move-in ready, but it needed a lot of updates," Khanani notes.
Before: Kitchen
The existing kitchen was small, and it had dated fixtures and finishes.
After: Kitchen
The renovation reconfigured the kitchen to include a peninsula with a secondary level for the owners’ wheelchair-using daughter.
New window openings throughout the house bring in more light, particularly in the kitchen. Studio For paired Ikea cabinets with Caesarstone countertops.
"It has a basement, but the main living areas are all on the same floor," Khanani says. "That was really appealing, based on the other homes they had seen. They also liked its level of privacy, and that it already had a swimming pool."
Before: Living Room
While the owners liked the existing ceiling beams and fireplace, the rest of the living room needed to be updated.
After: Living Room
They refinished the existing wood floors, which were hidden under old carpeting, and kept the brick fireplace as is.
The couple purchased the property in the fall of 2020, and everyone gathered to discuss the renovation. Khanani’s former classmate is a professional writer now, but they shared a common background from studying design. "She came to us with a lot of ideas on that front, and she was also a strong advocate for her daughter," says Khanani. "We always ask clients questions like how they hope to live in their home, and for how long, but the impressive thing about this project was how specific those answers were."
In the bathroom closest to their daughter’s bedroom, the owners made the shower accessible to a wheelchair.
"All of the four bathrooms, and the kitchen backsplash, have unique tile work," says Khanani.
Another bathroom features a tub, emerald green tile, and light pink walls.
The firm and the clients worked together to balance accessibility with style in every aspect of the home’s design. The front entrance has stairs, but the family usually enters through the carport, which the firm rebuilt with a new ramp. The bathrooms were spacious, but they all had tubs—so Studio For swapped one for a walk-in shower with slip-resistant tiles.
They peeled back old carpets (a tough surface for wheelchairs to maneuver on) to reveal smooth wood floors, and they opened the kitchen to the living and dining area while ensuring that the existing steel columns left enough clearance for glides and turns.
"We totally gutted the kitchen to reconfigure it, and placed a peninsula on one end for bar seating," Khanani says—and there’s also a lower ledge, so that the couple’s daughter can eat there, too.
Before: Bedroom
The original bedrooms were dark and rustic.
After: Bedrooms
The firm turned a dilapidated, screened-in porch into a guest suite for the homeowners’ in-laws.
A bunk room is ideal for young guests visiting for the holidays.
Along the way, the firm and clients carefully considered which details to preserve, and which to update. They kept the existing wood beams above the kitchen and the redbrick fireplace in the living area, which provides the perfect backdrop for the midcentury furniture the homeowners prefer. They replaced and added windows to bring in more light and create a stronger connection to the new, wider deck. And they took down the walls around the basement stairs and added a steel railing.
"One of the biggest shifts was that we converted an existing screened-in porch on one side of the house into a guest suite," Khanani says. This ground-floor suite provides plenty of space for visiting grandparents.
Before: Swimming Pool
The owners liked that the home already had a pool, although it needed significant maintenance.
After: Swimming Pool
During the renovation, the team cleaned up the pool and added a new fence for safety.
The home’s new deck is wider for more accessibility, and it has space for a dining area and hot tub.
The project was completed at the end of 2022, and Khanani says that the couple have already hosted Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter, using their wide lawn to hide colorful eggs.
"We designed this home for a family, and we went through the usual process even if their requirements were more necessary than those of others," Khanani says. "It’s rewarding to know that their home is exactly what they needed in so many different ways."
Floor Plan of Pine Lane by Studio For
More Before & After stories:
A Family of Four Gives a Derelict Catskills Farmhouse a Whimsical Revamp
Siblings Turn a Neglected Victorian Into a Dreamy Catskills Hotel
A Vibrant Revamp Gives a Cramped Brooklyn Brownstone Room to Breathe
Project Details:
Architect of Record: Scott N. Phillips
Design Team: Fauzia Khanani, Scott Phillips, Deena Darby, Studio For / @studioforny
Structural Engineer: Clapper Structural, Bryan Clapper
Civil Engineer: Christopher R. DiChario
Landscape Design: Aja Hudson
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