The Horsehead House

An Urban Coastal Themed Retreat

This hybrid Craftsman bungalow sports lots of restored Victorian detailing and unusual architectural elements. Sadly, the house had fallen into terrible disrepair from years of sitting vacant. Before renovation, it was a home to squirrels, birds, bugs and the floor system had vines growing up between the joists and the rotted floorboards. Adding to the wildlife, the home was chopped up into three apartments; its grand rooms bisected by makeshift walls.

Built as a spec home in 1911 by design/builder/carpenter Frank Ruggles, who hailed from Boston, the house was light-filled and featured original wavy glass windows with interesting mullion patterns, heart of pine floors, an original but deteriorated sunroom, and a magnificent original dining room mantel. We took clues from the few treasures from the original house, other local Ruggles’ homes, and the framing behind the walls. We got further design help from Brent Drone, a talented architect with Antiquity Architectural.

We took the house from 1500 square feet to nearly 3200 square feet by raising the roofline 10 feet in the air. This way, we were able to maintain the existing façade of the house, as well as duplicate the rear elevation while still making the house significantly larger.

Green Building

We’ve been restoring and renovating in a more unorthodox manner since the founding of our company. We’ve always reclaimed and recycled old house parts including windows, plumbing, trim, tile, mantels, door, hardware, and heart pine beams and old floors but we took this house to a whole new level. We used all reclaimed heart of pine flooring in the addition as well as rooms where the original floors were rotted. We milled every stick of trim in the house from reclaimed baseboards, roof sheathing, and flooring joists that were landfill bound. The ornate entryway was milled from cedar and heart pine beams that we removed to expand the house. The kitchen cabinets were milled from century old oak floor joists, a rare find. We used soy-based foam insulation to insulate the walls, ceiling, floors, and roof. We installed a tankless hot water heater (very energy efficient), restored and installed all reclaimed doors, door hardware, tile, mantels, chandeliers and used some century old plumbing fixtures like a restored claw-foot tub and restored sinks. We tried to create a large beautiful historic home with the smallest carbon footprint possible.

This house has been featured in the press:
Atlanta Journal Constitution, February 2007
Atlanta Home Improvement Magazine, December 2007 (bathroom)
Intown Magazine, June 2008
This Old House Magazine, November 2008 (stairwell)
This Old House Magazine, June 2009 (powder room)

If you are interested in the renovation process of this home, check out the pdf photojournal.