Pickering Road runs through a quiet valley outside Philadelphia, winding past fields hemmed by rock walls, barns topped with weather vanes, and stoic stone houses. It’s about as idyllic a country road as you can imagine, and for the Stonorov-Churchill family, it’s a conduit that threads its way through history and memory.

“My parents live a hundred feet down the hill, one aunt lives that way, and another lives that way,” says Erik Churchill, indicating points along a stretch of the thoroughfare in the town of Phoenixville. “The road has always been the connection.”

Erik, founder of the New York architecture firm BLDGWORKS, grew up with his sisters, Daphne and Allegra, in a farmhouse on the road. Later Allegra and her husband, Bill Henry, relocated to Virginia. But a few years ago, after having two children, they decided to move back home, closer to the support of family. Allegra’s parents, Tasha Stonorov and Michael Churchill, were eager to have them nearby.

So when one of their many local relatives offered to sell their quirky, custom-designed 1979 house at the edge of Pickering Road, Tasha and Michael scooped it up, intending to bring it back to life as a home for Allegra, Bill, and their growing family.

Tasha and Michael were up for the challenge. Each is a child of a noted modern architect—Oskar Stonorov and Henry Churchill, respectively—and both grew up around blueprints and big concepts. Architecture skipped a generation, however, landing in Erik, who became the obvious choice to design the extensive renovation. Bill, a general contractor, was the natural pick to execute Erik’s ideas.

The original 3,200-square-foot, three-bedroom house was an unusual structure, shaped in a half circle with the curved side tucked against a hill and the straight side facing the valley. It had been rented for a decade and was somewhat neglected, its interior a collection of dated, awkward spaces, some crawling with mold.

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But it was also home to a lot of memories. The extended Stonorov-Churchill clan had gathered there over the years and recalled the residence in happy times. “There were a lot of competing interests about how to honor the past while looking forward to what was to come,” Erik says.

His primary goal was to expand the existing space, keeping the appealing elements of the original design, such as the heavy timber trusses and the sweeping main room designed for socializing. To make the house more livable for a growing family and guests, he devised a 900-square-foot, second-story addition.

Erik wanted to avoid a building-block aesthetic, where the new volume might appear tacked on as an afterthought. By wrapping the exterior in cedar and using windows edged with mirroring angular frames, he fused the shapes together almost organically. “Cedar weathers—it’s not inert, it changes,” he says. “We tried to create movement with the window frames, so they have visual interest.”

Inside, the team faced a similar puzzle: finding ways to merge old and new. They devised several solutions, including building a new stairwell to the addition, clad in birch plywood tiles, and opening up and connecting two “Hobbit rooms,” as Allegra called them, over the main living space.

Using the same materials from one space to the next also created a sense of continuity. Handmade ceramic tiles line the kitchen and wrap into the living area. Porcelain tiles extend from the bathroom through the master bedroom suite. Contiguous birch plywood strips wrap an entry bench, cabinets, and the built-in dining nook. “Whenever we used a material on one plane, we used it on another,” Erik says. “The material usage and details were very precise and bespoke, and it’s a testament to the craftsmanship that it worked.”

Marks of that craftsmanship are all around—in a flight of stairs made with double-tapered, reclaimed barn timbers and in bathroom counters refashioned by Bill from wood salvaged from the original kitchen. And there are uniquely personal elements, too: a bar of reclaimed wood that Erik crafted for the couple; a chandelier configured by Oskar Stonorov from a 1950s design for Venini by his famous Italian colleague Carlo Scarpa.

The most important quality Allegra and Bill sought was a sense of a shared environment, where they could communicate with each other and their kids from room to room. “I can hear perfectly from here,” says Allegra, standing in the kitchen, looking up at a loft where her boys like to play. “We basically wanted to be in one big space.”

Ultimately, the house tells a story of continuity—of materials and space as well as generations. Shortly after moving in, the couple hosted a big dinner, the first of many. “We’re trying to rival Mom’s,” Allegra jokes. “We had twenty people at the table, twelve kids running around. Everyone could sleep here.”

For Erik that was the mark of success. “We wanted it to be a family house again,” he says. “Having this as one of the family spaces on this road is really special.”

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: BLDGWORKS

General Contracting: Field Modifications

Landscaping: Allegra Churchill

Engineering: Laufs Engineering Design

Wood-and-Steel Trusses: Redbuilt

Speciality Woodwork: Joe Corsi

Custom Ceramic Tile: John Matthews

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