What happens when an architect outgrows a home? It started simply enough with the idea of adding a bath. Then a dormer. Then, nearly 20 years and hundreds of sketches later, that vision morphed into a remodeled dream home—that sits on the same footprint.

“The designer in me was not going to be satisfied fitting a single program in a space that was already inefficient,” says Matt Loosemore, homeowner and Principal at SUM Design Studio + Architecture. “Then I thought, let’s take off the roof. Then I talked to contractors, and it was apparent that for a little more money, we could redo it all.” And that’s exactly what they did.

Loosemore stripped the former three-bedroom, two-bath Cape Cod down to a single wall and subfloor, and then gradually turned it into a contemporary, five-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath home that would better adapt to the family of four and pooch. “It functions in the way we live,” says Loosemore. “We get to live how we live versus having a house that defines the way we live.” Read on to learn more about the renovation.

Before: The Exterior

After: The Exterior

Before: The Upper Floor

After: The Upper Floor

Before: The Living Area

After: The Living Area

Shop the Look

After: The Master Bedroom

After: The Master Bath

After: The Backyard

Says Loosemore, “We designed it to accommodate friends,” which was also the impetus for remodeling versus moving to a new home. They were the youngest family when they arrived in 1999. “Our neighborhood became our best friends.” The neighbor behind them completed a modern renovation that paved the way for their new design while considering the context of the neighborhood, which is an eclectic mix of ranches, Cape Cods, and other styles of homes. To respect what is there, Loosemore lowered the home by two inches to keep within the scale of the neighborhood.

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: SUM Design Studio + Architecture / @sumdesignstudio

General Contractor: O'Brien & Company Construction

Structural Engineer: Hayden Consulting Engineers