One House, Three Ways

We asked three local architects to tell us what they would do if a client hired them to transform this tiny two-bedroom cottage for sale in east cambridge.

There's an obvious upside to this neglected 1,200-square-foot two-bedroom at 124 Thorndike Street in East Cambridge: location. Just two blocks from Cambridge Street, the home is a short walk to the Lechmere T and the river. Its cons, however, are daunting, from little things like the tub surround and marquee-style lighting in the bathroom (both dated) to major issues like the fact that the only full bath is on the first floor, while the bedrooms are upstairs. The house is situated as far forward on the sidewalk as possible, with the main entrance in the narrow side yard. It's sandwiched between a tall mansard-roof triple-decker and a single-story garage, and clad in pink vinyl siding.

Still, we saw potential. With average listing prices in East Cambridge actually rising - from $581,000 on September 1 to $662,053 on October 1, according to trulia.com - putting the extra money into the place may make financial sense, even in this tough market. So we gave three architects an imaginary budget of $250,000 for renovations (which would come on top of the $379,000 purchase price) and asked them what they would do to spruce the place up. After a week of scheming, each one presented his vision to dramatically overhaul the property. Not only did they give the place a face lift, but they also made plans to gut the interior, making structural changes and adding swish finishes that allow the home to compete with its neighbors. Now if they only had a buyer.

Elizabeth Gehrman writes the On the Block column. Send comments to designing@globe.com.

Lyle Bradley
Albert, Righter & Tittmann Inc., Boston, 617-451-5740, alriti.com

* The Sketch "Obviously this house probably looked better when it stood alone," says Bradley, "but today the gabled roof makes it look puny." Raising the roof would "stitch the house into the current fabric of the street" and also make more sense for drainage, allowing rainwater to be caught in a backyard barrel for gardening duty.

* His Plan A better street presence is essential, so a new entryway offers a cheery focal point, and the slanted roof is fun: It's completely different but still leaves a strong sense of the old roof and layout as a nod to the home's old-world self.

Changing Face The exterior would use flush boards running horizontally on the first floor and vertically on top; staining them in different colors would add drama, and a wraparound cantilevered roof would create a continuous plane and add prominence.

* Layout Re-Imagined The new roof starts about 23 feet off the ground and tapers to about 13 feet in back, intersecting with the existing roof to create a large dormer. Bradley didn't move the bedrooms, but he gave the one in front a loftlike 10-foot ceiling and opened the back one onto a deck. The first floor retains much of its original layout, but with smart fixes like a foyer-style entrance and open-plan kitchen/dining area.

* Nice Touch Bradley suggests eco-friendly features, like solar panels for the roof. Blown-in cellulose insulation would radically increase heating and cooling effectiveness, and all new materials would be formaldehyde-free, low-VOC, and locally harvested and worked.

Campbell Ellsworth
Ellsworth Associates, Cambridge, 617-492-0709, ellsworth-associates.com

* The Sketch "It's a house that really speaks 'house,' " says Ellsworth. "It's the kind of geometrical form children draw when they draw a house. I wanted to reinforce that by accentuating the geometry that's on the street."

* His Plan Construct a double-height, two-story living area that looks up to a sleeping-balcony space that would be filled with soft light. "While it looks like a small house," he says, "when you go in it will feel enormous." A variety of spatial experiences would be created, unlike in a typical house, where you're on one floor or the other.

* Changing Face He chose glass and natural wood for the front, "dematerializing that whole wall and bringing in the north light." A dramatic (and surprising) Art Nouveau design fashioned of either steel or aluminum makes a large sculptural gesture on the scale of the house itself.

* Layout Re-Imagined Ellsworth opened up the entire second floor into a loft-style master suite with a large terrace that almost doubles the size of the interior space. He kept the living room in the front of the house and the kitchen in back, but enlarged it by removing the first- floor full bath and instead adding a repositioned powder room. He "cut through and opened up light to the basement," allowing for two guest bedrooms and a full bath below.

* Nice Touch "I used a chimney-style skylight to bring in light," Ellsworth notes. "Why not make a space that actually has an architectural form? This house needs a chimney, and here it is."

Anthony Piermarini
Studio Luz Architects, Boston, 617-423-2724, studioluz.net

* The Sketch Because the home is not set back and there's no front yard, Piermarini says that he would create "a kind of cloistered effect on the street front for an internal world." It allows light through but gives the owners privacy, so that at night the house would have a lantern effect.

* His Plan "I wanted to use this as a case study or prototype," he says. "The house is so iconographic, anyone can imagine it being their house."

* Changing Face The exterior is clad with fiber-cement panels made from building waste that don't need painting and a wood-slat screen to bring in light while retaining privacy.

* Layout Re-Imagined Now, as you enter, the kitchen is in the back of the house. Piermarini would relocate it to the center, with dining toward the street and a living room in the back. "That would take advantage of the space and extend it outside," he says. He flattened the roof and expanded the second floor, taking advantage of the full footprint for a master suite and two guest rooms with a shared bath.

* Nice Touch Piermarini would use the sliver of space between the house and the neighbor's garage for a mini garden. "Narrow stalks of bamboo grow really tall," he says. "They wouldn't take up much space but would create play between light and shade. They'd also warm up what's now a very utilitarian space."