A Whole House Transformation in Alta Vista

Several years back, a friend's parents purchased this house in Greenville, South Carolina's Alta Vista neighborhood. (The neighborhood will no doubt garner many blog posts here because it is filled with beautiful houses.) Small, neglected, and utterly unlivable, the house was sold at a tear-down price. Initially, they considered doing just that. But by the time they hired me to design their makeover, they were convinced the old  house was worth saving.

The front and back of the house when they purchased it. Hard to see the potential!

The transformation just about tripled the size of the house--adding a large new kitchen and dining area at the rear, and a luxurious master suite on the new second floor. A few exterior walls were saved, the original doors and fireplace, but not much else.

The house during construction. Notice the oval shaped foundation vents that the owner scored while antiquing in New Orleans.  From this angle, it's clear the house got just a bit larger.

Recently, after enjoying the house for a number of  years, the clients I designed it for decided to put it on the market. It's a testament to the excellent job they did on the transformation that it sold in the first week it was for sale. Take a look at these afters (Photos taken from the MLS listing).

The new porch and front door give the house a much better street presence.



The front after the transformation. Bears little resemblance to the original.



The outline of the original house is just visible in the view of the rear.



The Great Room envelopes most of the original house. The fireplace is the only thing left of the original interior.



The gorgeous kitchen and dining area were added during the renovation.



Another view of the dining room. Beautiful trimwork was added throughout.



The vanity area in the master bath. So crisp and clean.



The master bathroom is in the second floor addition. Love the striped marble floor.

I'm once again joining the "Metamorphosis Monday" party over at Between Naps on the Front Porch. While you're surfing, click over there for more before and afters!