A 50s brick house reinvents itself with the cropping and siding of its 'hat' roof, which overlooks the central living space

Michael Goorevich's renovation of a 50s brick ranch house exemplifies how altering an already decent build can make a structure sublime.

The Hat House is a residential renovation project that took place in Nashville, Tennessee. Goorevich's ambition for this project was not to create a new architecture, but to sublimate the existing one.

“We arrived at the site and fell in love with it. It was full of potential, on the condition that we change one thing, ”explains Michael Goorevich. It refers here to the mansard roof that topped the main living space. Neither beautiful nor well constructed, it needed reframing. So Goorevich adjusted it and offered it an FSC®-certified Kebony wood covering.

“Once we chose to use wood for the new 'hat', we rolled it out throughout the house in the form of window frames, siding, soffits and screens. Thus, the “hat” has become the decision-making element for the whole house”, continues the architect.

Goorevich saw the Hat House project as an exercise in modification: he wondered how this house could become a better version of itself. “Our goal was not to create a new architecture, but rather to free up the existing architecture,” he said.

The masonry wall of the house has become an impenetrable garden fence, the hat a wooden pavilion in the garden, and the living room an opening in the wall connecting the garden to the outside world. With the scale and appearance of the exterior altered, Goorevich's team followed a strategy of minimal interventions inside. White oak joinery and trim have been used to bring the different rooms together into a series of linked spaces. The project aimed to refocus a house with the potential to become a place of rest and tranquility.

The Hat House won the AIA Tennessee Design Excellence Award in 2021. Jurors found the project considered the house's history, respecting the original building and bringing it to life in a context modernized. They commented, “The designers cleaned up and modernized an already well-made house. We loved the details they added and restored, and the energy and vibrancy they brought to the space. The bathroom and kitchen details are gorgeous, and everyone loved the red door. »