Sometimes the best things are right under your nose. That was the case for Liz Hottel and her husband, Ryan Hadley, who, when searching for a larger home for their family of three (four, counting the dog), wound up buying the house Liz’s mother, Catherine, had lived in for the past 25 years. The Cape Cod–style home in Silver Spring, Maryland, had everything the couple were looking for: something in the D.C. area with great schools for their son, proximity to the metro, walkability, and, as a bonus, the potential to renovate to include an ADU for Catherine.

Before: Front Exterior

Originally, the wood-framed cottage had two bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths. A later renovation awkwardly converted the family room into a bedroom, which added a sleeping area that made the layout cramped. Small windows didn’t bring in much light, and poor insulation gave the home a drafty, damp feel. The basement was unfinished, doubling as a garage and storage space, and the finishes—a mix of colonial and Greek revival elements—lacked cohesion. So did the 1990s kitchen.

After: Front Exterior

But Liz, Ryan, and Catherine all agreed that they could find a way to make the home work for the entire family. To renovate and add on, they hired architect Jen Harty of HxH Architects, who understood their vision of “a calm, Zen-like sanctuary with serene views of the backyard,” she explains.

Before: Rear

Harty created an addition at the rear of the home that expanded each of its three levels by about 300 square feet. Now, it “cascades an entire story downhill,” explains Harty, and opens to the rear garden, where it “soaks up views and invites connection to the outdoors.”

Determining the new layout began with addressing Catherine’s mobility challenges. To provide everything she needed in a single level, Harty converted the unfinished basement and storage area into a 600-square-foot ADU, complete with a kitchenette, dining/living space, and bedroom with an en suite bath. The first floor still holds the home’s public spaces, but has a more open plan with the dining area and kitchen open to a lounge that connects to a terrace. The top level was reconfigured to hold three bedrooms and two baths, including a serene primary suite with its own terrace that has a view of downtown Silver Spring.

After: Rear Elevation

“The house is built into a steep hillside,” explains architect Jen Harty. As a result, what appears as one-and-a-half stories in the front unfolds into three full stories at the back. She redesigned the rear to be a “patchwork of openings, cantilevers, terraces, and projecting spaces” that connect with the outdoors." layout="" credit="Frazier Springfield" photoUserId=""/>

Before: Living Room

The interior was completely renovated, explains Harty, to feel light, bright, and expansive. “The owners were drawn to Scandinavian material palettes, and we were habitually calling the look ‘hygge’ and ‘Japandi,’” she notes. Mood boards were focused around the design principles of natural honesty and simplicity of material.

After: Kitchen, Dining, & Lounge

To those ends, light woods and bright tiles were selected throughout, giving the home a visual continuity from room to room that it was lacking before. Liz notes that Ryan, a data analytics professional and avid woodworker, “helped envision and execute many of the finishes in the house, including the window casements, the internal stairs, and the deck.”

The exterior, by contrast, is meant “to disappear into the landscape,” says Harty. The facade is clad in painted fiber cement siding with a reveal detail, shingled roofing, dark window cladding, and black gutters.

After: Kitchen

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Before: Upstairs Bedroom

The home’s street-facing facade is almost monochromatic. The rear’s, on the other hand, includes natural wood elements in the terrace, exterior stairs, and a bay window framing tree views. “The dark materials give the house a humble and understated presence,” remarks Harty, contrasting the home’s pre-renovation palette of pale yellow siding and white trim.

After: Upstairs Stairwell & Bathroom

However dramatic the transformation, the home still feels appropriately scaled with the rest of the homes on the block, Harty points out. “It’s rooted in the presence of old,” she says, “but is a truly transformed space for a new generation.”

More Before & After:

She Cloaked Her 1970s Brick Home in a Concrete-and-Metal “Skin”

A Gloomy San Francisco Garage Is Retooled as a Charming English Cottage

Project Credits:

Architect: HxH Architects

Builder: Jbl Constructions LLC

Structural Engineer: 3d Structural Engineers

Civil Engineer: CAS Engineering

Landscape Design: Green Room