Restoring a Turn-of-the-Century Rehoboth Beach Cottage

Our clients’ beach house is a special one: Steeped in history, this early 20th-century cottage was one of the original homes in Rehoboth when the town was founded as the Methodist Camp Meeting Association. While the house needed some vital upgrades to conform with modern city regulations—to the point where officials were pushing the homeowners to tear the entire structure down and rebuild—this family was committed to restoring the original space, building an addition, and ultimately creating a functional home to fit their needs.

STAYING TRUE TO THE HOME’S HISTORY

Though we had to replace the existing roof, siding and windows during the renovation, we made sure the look of the new elements fit in with the historical time period in which the house was originally built.  Adding custom shutters with decorative shutter doors was the icing on the cake for this beautiful exterior.

Our design team worked closely with the clients to ensure historical accuracy where it mattered. With the goal of saving as much of the existing interior as possible, we worked to bring fresh life to much of the existing flooring, trim and original beadboard walls. Any new finishes we added, like beadboard, beams, and beautiful reclaimed heart pine flooring are timeless enough to fit in seamlessly with the original cottage.

STRUCTURAL CHALLENGES

Between the quirks that old homes tend to come with and more significant structural concerns that we found along the way, our team needed to find more than a few creative solutions to make this restoration work. Finding a way to connect a newly constructed addition to the original structure was a challenge in itself, but even more so was replacing the foundation under the cottage. The city wouldn’t allow us to lift the house off the existing foundation to install the much-needed new foundation, saying that if we did, we’d need to tear down the structure completely or move it to another portion of the lot, so we decided to hand-dig all of the dirt out of the home’s crawl space and rebuild the foundation, section by section. Our expert team solved each problem we encountered and our clients trusted us to do so.

Once the new foundation was in place, we were able to shift our focus onto updating the plumbing, wiring and engineering, as well as finding a place for a new staircase.

A REFRESHED SPACE

The finished cottage is a jewel. The updated floor plan, which includes a gorgeously updated kitchen, flows seamlessly between the original structure and the new addition. Blue tones throughout the space pay homage to the original interior design, while bright white paint and tiles bring an airiness to the updated bathrooms, living areas and new porch that make the home truly feel like a breezy vacation retreat.

The screened porch’s new glass doors open up the living area and help the space take advantage of the ocean breeze, while the beautiful fireplace provides the perfect amount of coziness for late nights of good conversation among friends. Wooden privacy fencing and a traditional brick walkway echo the tones of the historic flooring and exposed brick accent walls throughout the home’s interior.

Our clients are truly thrilled with the end result of this labor of love and enjoy their summer’s here with family and friends.

Are you ready to renovate your historic space? Our team can help you handle your home transformation with the care it deserves. Get in touch to schedule a consultation today