Decatur couple builds new upstairs level

Craftsman home gets second story, creating room for downstairs renovation
Kristin Allin and her husband Billy wanted to remodel their Decatur 1926 Craftsman home, so they built up, adding a second floor while opening up the first floor.
Photo:Brant Sanderlin/Staff
More photo here.


By H.M. CAULEY

For The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sunday, October 05, 2008

When it came time to find more space for their growing family, Kristin and Billy Allin had only one way to go: Up.

By adding a second floor they didn’t have to disturb the yard and gardens around their 1926 Craftsman home in the heart of Decatur. It also allowed them to work within the footprint of the existing structure.
We didn’t have to bump anything out,” Kristin Allin said. “We just went up and worked within the downstairs footprint so we could leave most of the house intact. We had made some changes: We put back the fireplace that was covered up in the front room. The archway off the living room was closed off and we reopened it. But there was already a sunroom on the back where we could make our main living area.”

The couple, who recently opened the Cakes and Ale restaurant in Decatur, built a staircase to the new second floor from the bones of the old attic passage. The stairs took up part of the old master bedroom that is now another seating area off the living room.

The new level has a large center hall, brightly lit with skylights. At one end, under the sloping eaves, are a kids’ play area and a reading nook packed with books and toys. A hall bath is brightly finished in a mosaic of blue, white and beige tiles with subway tiles around the bath.

The hall opens to the children’s bedrooms, with vaulted ceilings and built-in shelving, and a laundry area. The largest space is at the back of the house, where the spacious master with a sloping ceiling over the bed connects to a screened porch and deck.

The master bath was finished with double pedestal sinks, dual mirrored medicine cabinets, an oversize stone shower and an old-fashioned clawfoot tub under a skylight. The airy space is finished with white bead board molding and a beige tiled floor.

“I use the tub, the kids use the tub a lot and we all use the shower,” Kristin Allin said with a laugh. “We also loved the idea of a porch off the bedroom where, in the mornings, we sometimes sit while we have our coffee.”

The overhaul also focused on the kitchen, another significant part of the house for the restaurant owners. The space now features granite counters and off-white cabinets, a stainless steel farmhouse sink with a subway tile backsplash and white display shelves on either side of the window over the sink. The glass-fronted cabinets show off a collection of white dishware. There’s also a butcher-block island with a prep sink and a four-burner Viking stove under a vent hood.

“We tried to cater it to what Billy likes to do,” Kristin Allin said. “It has all the amenities that people like now. Of course, he cooked a lot more before we opened the restaurant.”