These Historic Homes Offer Extraordinary Design Opportunities
Dible Tudors and shirtwaists are two of Kansas City’s most prevalent historic architectural styles. Found in neighborhoods throughout the area, those who hope to live in a historic home may find these homes on their shortlist.
If you are fortunate enough to live in one of these homes, you may be thinking of remodeling them to suit your needs and taste or bring out historic qualities that may have fallen into disrepair. Yet you may face many uncertainties, including how to enhance historic features appropriately or how to balance the home’s original character with current needs.
However, superior contractors who specialize in old homes possess creative solutions to preserve your home’s character and special features, while adding desired functionality.
How Old Home Renovation Experts Approach Shirtwaists
A Kansas City shirtwaist home is characterized by several exterior and interior features. On the exterior, shirtwaist homes have several unique characteristics, including a first level built out of brick or limestone, upper levels with wood lap siding or stucco, large front porches, a gabled roof, and overhanging eaves on a symmetrical exterior. Interior features include a rear kitchen with its own exit, a staircase at the side of the house, and bedrooms upstairs.
Old home renovation contractors like Architectural Craftsmen see these features as opportunities to help you remodel with both historic and modern appeal. Remodeling ideas may include:
- Finding functional ways to utilize top-floor rooms: Because of the gabled roof, third-floor rooms may lend themselves well to an office or playroom and include opportunities for unique designs because of their shapes.
- Opening up adjoining rooms to add a primary suite: Shirtwaist owners may need more space than their primary bedroom currently provides, including larger closets. Making two rooms into one may help set the stage for this much-desired space.
- Taking advantage of the rear kitchen: A shirtwaist’s back kitchen presents opportunities to expand that space with an addition and even add a porch or mudroom.
- Enhance the exterior’s period architecture: Revitalizing the home’s paint, wooden features, roofing, and windows requires the expertise of a contractor who specializes in old homes. These experts understand how to select custom materials for a design that is historically appropriate and precisely executed.
To get help with a renovation project for your shirtwaist home, choose a highly rated team that knows how to remodel homes built in the 1940s and earlier. Invite them to your home for an on-site consultation to begin collaborating on your vision.
Old Home Renovation Ideas For Dible Tudors
Inspired by the architecture of Tudor homes, Kansas City’s Dible Tudors (named for the man responsible for building these homes in our area) possess unique exterior features, including asymmetrical gables with steep roofs, timber details, stucco and stone infill, screened porches, and detached garages. Interior features of a Dible Tudor include dark wood detailing, built-in features like a laundry chute, tile flooring in entryways and bathrooms, and more.
Kansas City’s Dible Tudors stand out for their uncharacteristic architecture, not to mention their locations in coveted neighborhoods like Rockhill Gardens in Kansas City. Old home remodelers can make these homes even more unique with these ideas:
- Emphasize period-appropriate details: Unique interior features, including tiling and wood detailing, offer opportunities to foreground and play off these details. For example, you might consider echoing the bathroom or entryway tiling in other parts of the home’s interiors.
- Transform your floor plan: Just because Dible Tudors floor plans are similar, this doesn’t mean you can’t make your home extraordinary by creating more open space, expanding a room’s reach and functionality, or including additions.
- Remodeling your detached garage: A completely remodeled detached addition might pique your interest. Work with a specialist to find out how you can repurpose your garage for entertaining, a workshop, or any other concept you can imagine.
Ask a contractor that specializes in old homes, including Dible Tudors, for an on-site consultation, so you can collaborate with an expert on a customized renovation.
Our Old Home Renovation Team Brings Your Historic Home to Life
Whether you plan to renovate a Kansas City shirtwaist, Dible Tudor, or any other home with historic architecture, you can’t leave this task up to any remodeling contractor. If you’re looking for a design that honors the historic character of your home, you need an old home renovation contractor.
Old homes like shirtwaists and Dible Tudors speak their own unique design language. The right home renovation team can interpret that language to meet design challenges as they arise and develop creative solutions that leave you impressed and eager to begin life in your remodeled home.
Architectural Craftsmen specializes in remodeling Kansas City homes built in the 1940s and earlier. We’ve completed single-room and whole-home remodels in historic homes throughout the metro area. Our designs are customized, one-of-a-kind solutions for homeowners that take your contemporary needs into account without leaving behind your home’s historic charm.
Send us a message online or call (913) 963-2246 for an on-site consultation from our team.
