Letting in the light
This Wynnewood Tudor was dark and had a “lost opportunity” in its former design. New owners opened it up to accentuate its unique features.
Sherry Chen, a law librarian, grew up in Shanghai. Her husband, Robert Streijl, a telecommunications engineer, is from the Netherlands.
They met while in Atlanta, where Chen was a graduate student, and moved to Chicago and Ann Arbor, Mich., and then Boston. But they have finally found their nesting place in a Tudor house on a wooded lot in Wynnewood with easy access to Suburban Square.
Chen had found a new job in the area, and “this was the first house we saw,” she said.
She had grown up in an urban setting, but she and Streijl both loved the secluded feel of the lot, its closeness to Suburban Square, and the Tudor architecture, which was very popular in the neighborhood.
They closed in February 2023 and were starting to look for an architect to make renovations when they saw an Inquirer article about a project by Lauren Thomsen Design and reached out to her.
“It was a serene and a beautiful lot,” Thomsen said, yet “the house was dark” despite being painted white both inside and out. “The layout was compartmentalized and didn’t have flow.”
A redesigned house would allow people to move around more easily than in the original.
But what really struck Thomsen was the turret with no roof access, a lost opportunity when the house was built in 1940.
She set out to make major renovations that started in January 2024 with Chen and Streijl moving from one short-term rental to another for six months. “Very messy” was Chen’s description.
The turret, common to Tudor-style homes but rare in this area, was key.
“We raised the roof,” Thomsen said, “and this allowed for a new vaulted ceiling and a row of clerestory windows. Why have the turret if you can’t appreciate the geometry from the interior?”
“We didn’t change the footprint,” she said, but a wall blocking the view was cut out and an entirely new configuration showcases the original staircase. Old and new railing styles were matched.
The kitchen was opened up with the removal of a bearing wall dividing it from the dining area. What had once been a stairway to the maid’s room now leads past the refrigerator into a light-filled study/office.
And what had been a three-bedroom house became a four-bedroom.
The Tudor style often features small windows, but Thomsen replaced many of them with larger windows to let in more light.
Amid all the remodeling, key assets remained. The sunken living room allowed for a higher ceiling.
Thomsen made maximum use of colorful light fixtures and plants in a first-floor sunroom added by a previous owner.
“The Tudor style is very intriguing,” she said. “The houses are very unique.”
Once an architect has the vision, Thomsen said, the next step is translating it to the client. Chen and Streijl caught on quickly.
The project was simplified by having a construction company, Lancaster-based DK Builder, on board during the design process. This also helped prevent confusion in budgeting and planning. Plus the Lancaster area has many potential subcontractors, Thomsen said.
“It’s all about going into a space and saying, ‘What could this be?’” Thomsen said.
The geometry of the project was different from other houses, she said. “You’re dealing with multiple roof lines. And we were completely modifying the way people moved around the structure.”
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