As an interior decorator, Sandy Frazer transforms homes for a living. So when she and her husband, Roe, found a modest cottage in Rosemary Beach, Florida, she knew they could make it better—and bigger.
The dogtrot cottage had two floors, each with two rooms connected by a center hall.
Historically, these simple, Southern-style houses were designed to grow with the family, so the Frazers enlisted architect Gary Justiss to help them add on. “Retaining the existing structure was a given,” says Gary. “The question was how to functionally, efficiently, and appropriately enlarge and update the house.”
Gary found the answer right under his feet. The 85-foot-long lot was just deep enough to contain a mirror image of the original structure in the backyard. He drew a plan that joined the twin structures with an atrium-like living room featuring 22-foot ceilings and a south-facing wall of windows. This grand space, Gary’s contemporary take on a traditional breezeway, serves as both the focal point of the home and the connection between dining and sleeping quarters. It also carves out a sheltered side courtyard, where a trellis with flowering vines offers privacy from neighbors.
Sandy arranged the living room furniture to define an intimate conversation area and encourage easy movement through the linear space. In the kitchen, she chose unique custom cabinets—the doors, veneered with stacked pieces of oak, have a texture similar to that of a roll-front desk. The same oak appears on the island. Limestone counters and stainless steel appliances complete the kitchen’s clean, modern design.
Upstairs, Gary merged two former bedrooms and a bath into one luxurious master suite, which he mirrored with a guest suite in the new wing. Both bedrooms have a private outdoor space and a bath with a freestanding soaking tub and separate shower. For the master bath, Sandy chose materials with diverse textures, such as wide-plank paneling and mosaic tiles on wall surfaces, reeded wormy oak on cabinets, and smooth river rocks surrounding the tub.
Though the home’s exterior has been updated with a stucco finish and louvered shutters to enclose the upstairs porch, Gary didn’t want to change its original character. “Our decision to retain the nature of the dogtrot cottage was as much about economy as sentiment,” he says. Environmental sensitivity played a role, too, the architect adds. “If we had demolished the original structure, it would have all ended up in a landfill.”
Instead, Sandy, Roe, and Gary preserved the best of the original house and added some breathing room. Now the small dogtrot is both large and livable—double the size, double the style.
Building on Tradition
Sandy, Roe, and Gary wanted to preserve the cottage’s character and still impart their own style. Take some cues from their project to blend old and new in your home.
Don’t replace; recycle. Repurposing old materials may be easier than you think. The Frazers refurbished the old kitchen cabinets and used them for storage in a first-floor children’s bunk room.
Accentuate the positive. Take advantage of original elements that are still in good shape. Gary kept the exterior concrete-block walls between the kitchen and the new addition, but updated them with a hand-troweled stucco finish.
Take cues from the original. In true dogtrot fashion, Gary designed a deep overhang above the new construction. This roofline melds the new living room with the existing house and shades the exterior without limiting natural light inside.
Let the space evolve. An addition should feel like part of the home, but doesn’t have to imitate the original structure slavishly. Allowing the new rooms to take on their own personality will emphasize that the house grew over time.
