Chris Wershoven has fond memories of visits to his uncle’s home on the North Fork of Long Island, a modest and modernist boxy cedar-clad house built in 1971. They include big family get-togethers, fishing in the creek adjacent to the backyard, and boat rides to the Great Peconic Bay just beyond. After his uncle passed and the house went up for sale, he and his wife, Erika, who live in Brooklyn, purchased it in 2019 so that their children could experience some of the same joys.

The house was charming, but dated (think dark wood paneling and cloistered rooms) and needed repairs (the roof leaked and drafts abounded). They began speaking with architects about a renovation but didn’t find a good fit; most offered generic proposals or insisted on modifications mimicking the extravagant contemporary homes for which the region is known. “It’s a humble house, and we wanted to keep it a humble house,” Erika says.

Then a burst pipe in 2022 led to significant water damage and lit a fire under their feet. “We also got a little bit of insurance money, and then we went into ‘let’s go’ mode,” Erika says. The family resumed interviewing firms and found Leah Solk of Solk Architecture after reading about a renovation of hers in the New York Times. Her exacting attention to detail—especially around budgeting, planning, and communication—won them over. “Chris and Erika kept saying to me when they met me, ‘We just don't want to mess this up,’” Solk says.

To that end, Solk conceived of her work as contributing another chapter to the architectural story Chris’s uncle began when he commissioned the residence from Nicholas Romanelli, an engineer and family friend. “There was definitely a vibe and feeling to the house,” she says, alluding to the 1970s aesthetic. “We made sure changes felt appropriate to its original voice.” Acting as stewards to the familial history, the Wershovens and Solk preserved the house’s distinctive form and “vibe” while gut renovating the interiors to become more joyful and modern.

The two priorities—respecting the structure and judicious budgeting—went hand in hand. Restricting changes to the house’s existing area, which is just under 2,000 square feet, was critical to this. Prior to working with Solk, Chris and Erika explored building a second story over the garage but found that the addition alone would have cost $250,000. Meanwhile, permit approvals for additional square footage would have required a significant amount of time. Plus, they didn’t want to change the massing.

“Every step of the way, we were very considerate to spend the dollars in a way that was long lasting,” Erika says. While they host the occasional big gathering with friends, 95 percent of it is just immediate family using the space. “We don’t want to pay for rooms that we’re not actually going to be living in.” Solk shared the same design philosophy and completed the 1,970-square-foot renovation for $500 per square foot. The entire renovation, including furnishings, came to just over $1.1 million.

$16,000 Demolition & Carting	$7,000 Site Facilities & Storage	$23,000 Site Work & Dry Wells
$20,000 Trees, Plantings & Driveway	$65,000 Dock & Bulkhead	$44,000 New Septic System
$26,000 Concrete & Masonry	$47,000 Wood Framing (New & Repair)	$11,000 Insulation
$11,000 Siding Repairs & Replacement	$11,000 Roof Replacement	$32,000 Electrical
$50,000 Plumbing Labor	$14,000 Plumbing Fixtures	$40,000 HVAC
$64,000 Windows, Skylight & Exterior Doors	$18,000 Light Fixtures	$28,000 Appliances
$53,000 Finish Carpentry	$12,000 Interior Doors	$105,000 Custom Millwork & Countertops
$6,000 Closet Fit-Outs	$60,000 Tile Install & Waterproofing	$32,000 Tile Material
$18,000 Wood Flooring	$9,000 Interior Glazing (Shower enclosures and railing)	$5,000 Door & Cabinet Hardware
$30,000 Skim Coat & Painting	$110,000 General Contractor Overhead & Profit	$18,000 General Contractor Insurance
$20,000 Furniture	$6,000 Curtains, Rugs, Linens	$3,000 Permitting
$110,000 Professional Fees (architecture, interior design, surveying, engineering, inspections)
Grand Total: $1,124,000

Getting a good understanding of just how much renovations can cost ahead of talking to architects also helped the Wershovens navigate select who to work with. Erika often consulted Dwell’s Budget Breakdown series during this stage, paying close attention to the real costs of specific design features and used the intel to inform priorities. For example, she initially wanted large windows, but they would have consumed her entire budget. “I would be poring over the budgets because tile and appliances are nice, but what can I actually afford?” Erika says. “To me, it was really important to figure out how much money I needed to save because I didn't want to start something that I couldn’t finish.”

After establishing the square footage and budget constraints, Solk and the Wershovens embarked on space planning. Erika wanted a home office, a portion of which was donated from the garage. The couple turned what was originally a galley kitchen into their bedroom, which connects to the office and essentially creates a suite they can close off for quiet and privacy. To squeeze even more livable space out of the ground floor, Solk excised the living room fireplace and chimney, which was a maintenance problem because of leaks. “Other families may think that’s bonkers, but it worked for us,” Erika says. “We’ll take the floor space over the fireplace.” The upstairs then became the kids’ annex, where they enjoy the best views and have deck access, reversing the conventional distribution of primary and secondary bedrooms.

To address the dim and cloistered interiors, Solk punched more windows into the facade. She opted for wood-framed windows from Marvin, which are more cost-effective than metal and still have excellent thermal qualities. Then she stripped away the dated wood paneling. Most of the finish downstairs is white-painted drywall since it’s affordable, durable, and easy to repaint and repair.

Isolated material moments serve as grace notes, a more affordable alternative to enveloping an entire room in specialty finishes, a maximalist trend of the moment. This includes a slatted maple accent wall and paneling around the stair; Heath tile in the powder room, bathrooms, and on the kitchen backsplash and dining area bar; and burgundy-painted cabinets in the mudroom. The details subtly reference the original interiors. “It felt like we weren't throwing away everything that came with the house, but we also weren't allowing it to darken and kind of make it feel small either,” Solk says.

Some of the more dramatic changes are invisible, including installing an energy recovery ventilator to the HVAC system, which brings fresh air into the house so it never feels stuffy, and thickening the insulation so the house is comfortable in winter. Before, the windows used to fog up, further limiting views.

Among all of the changes to the house, opening the interiors to the surrounding neighborhood reaped the highest rewards. “The thing that I like to do now is just sit and look out the window,” Erika says. The family’s spied herons, osprey, and even a pair of nesting bald eagles. “It’s just a brighter, happier place,” Chris adds.

More Budget Breakdown stories:

With $312K, They Made a Worn-Down Midcentury “Feel Like a Tree House”

$128K in Eames-Inspired Woodwork Is the Star of This Renovated L.A. Midcentury

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: AMP Architecture / @amp_architecture

Builder/General Contractor: E.L. Contracting Inc.

Structural and Civil Engineer: Amp Architecture

Interior, Landscape, and Cabinetry Design: Solk Architecture / @solkarchitecture