Real Life Remodel

Step inside the remodeled home of Arlington builder Don Henderson.

Written by Marion Butterworth

Photos by Lou Mazzatenta and Don Henderson (insert)

Just as it’s reassuring to know that your pediatrician has a few kids of his own, it instills confidence when your remodeler has “been there, done that” in his own home before walls come tumbling down in yours.

Ever wonder which features builders favor for themselves? Wouldn’t it be nice to see how a remodeler renovates his home, to know where he splurges and what he sacrifices to increase living space, modernize the kitchen and stay within a budget? Well, here's an exclusive peek at how Don Henderson, owner and CEO of a preeminent design/build firm with 27 years in the business, remodeled his family's home.

A Lifetime of Preparation

You could say that Don Henderson has spent his whole life preparing for this job. He’s been in the construction business since graduating from high school, adding design services to his eponymous company 17 years ago. Henderson Design/Build employs architects, as well as skilled carpenters and construction foremen. Potential clients meet first with Henderson who discovers their needs, desires and budget. Part psychoanalyst, part counselor, Henderson starts every project by helping homeowners identify “their pain” - their greatest frustrations with their existing home and their “value parameters” - what they view as luxuries as opposed to necessities and how these relate to the budget.

Clients first meet with Henderson to establish the scope of their project. “I help clients get what they want within a certain budget, so that they end up with a great design that meets their expectations.”

Commenting on the remodeling industry Henderson says, “There’s good, better and best. We do better, best and luxurious. We’re not ‘Big Orange;’ we don’t do low end, and we don’t do super high end either. It’s luxury at a great value.” His firm’s attention to design details and better-than-the-best quality of materials and craftsmanship is aptly demonstrated in his own home.

“The client is the pilot. I’m the navigator,” says Henderson, except that in the case of his own remodel, he was both co-pilot and the navigator. His wife Jennifer, a pretty, petite blond, sat in the driver’s seat on this job.

Photo by Lou Mazzatenta

A Plea for a Porch

“All I asked for was a bigger kitchen and a front porch,” says Jennifer. As a southerner, she knew these gathering areas make a house a home. “I wanted our home to feel like my grandmother’s house.”

When she moved in, the circa 1947 all-brick rambler in Arlington that Henderson had owned for 18 years was a bachelor’s pad, “all black leather and chrome,” according to Jen, and a makeover was overdue.

Henderson applied the same listening and analytical skills to his wife’s requests as he does to his clients, and what resulted is a phased whole-house makeover that won a 2005 regional National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) Contractor of the Year (CotY) merit award for Creative Design.

Photo by Bill Reeves

Project Scope

Among other things, the family wanted more space. The phased master plan included a two-story addition over an existing deck and screen porch foundation, producing a large farmhouse kitchen with a sun-filled breakfast bay, a great room painted a soothing Banana Cream with a vaulted ceiling, and a wall of windows that invite the outside in. A new dining room, double the size of the original, replaced the screen porch. A tray ceiling with cove lighting updated the living room, which was enlarged with the addition of a walk-out box bay. Attic space was framed for two future master suites and storage, and a half bath was added at the top of the new staircase.

Numerous doorways formed a warren of small rooms in the original house. To create better circular flow, Henderson eliminated eight doors formerly in the main living space, replacing them with three larger passageways. An uninterrupted 18-foot-wide opening blends the great room, central corridor and stairwell. The staircases were expanded to four feet wide for a more open feel and easier traffic flow. Contributing to the passageway's capaciousness, a skylight with a multi-pitched tunnel centered over the stairwell floods the space with light.

Photos by Bill Reeves and Don Henderson (insert)

Kitchen Confidential

Jen wanted a kitchen where two cooks could work side by side comfortably, that was spacious and full of natural light. Since good design should make you comfortable in the space, Henderson integrated ergonomics by raising the dishwasher and sandwich station and lowering the sink. Dirty dishes, a sight all too common in a busy kitchen, are kept out of sight in the lowered sink shielded from view by the raised island top. Instead, the focus is on a collection of Polish pottery illuminated on glass shelves. Display lighting is just one of the layers of lighting, including pendants, recessed, under-cabinet and task, which build a bright work-ready environment.

Stainless steel, commercial-grade appliances are workhorses set off by 1,400 pounds of seamless gleaming granite countertops. A deftly designed door-less pantry hides behind the salad sink and refrigerator wall. Open shelving makes finding what you want a snap, and the commercial style ice maker within means that good ole southern sweet tea is always ice-cold. An astounding 30 cabinets, 15 drawers, 10 shelves, and 9 open and 8 enclosed display areas create a kitchen that's both efficient and attractive.

Photo by Lou Mazzatenta

Curb Appeal

Remodeling must solve the complex challenges of making the new structure organic to the neighborhood and the site while satisfying the clients’ design aesthetics. Here, in a nod to traditional simplicity, the generously sized porch, graced by a standing seam metal roof supported by four true architectural entasis columns, creates a welcoming façade, as well as a shady spot where neighborly exchanges occur naturally.

There’s nothing “builder grade” about the home’s exterior. Decorated with crosshead mantel trim, dormers with arched windows project a genteel air apropos to this 70-year-old Arlington community. Extended and corbelled accent rings on the chimney and metal stars, reminiscent of those formerly used for structural reinforcement of exterior walls, increase the house's traditional southern allure.

If the test of good design is its ability to create a sense of ease, then this remodel demonstrates the solution with its custom features and well-planned spaces.