Far Hills, NJ Home Addition

The husband and wife clients initially advised us that they wished to add a family room on the rear of their house which would provide ample space to entertain guests while also housing their standard size pool table. Their dilemma, however, was that when they entertained, he enjoyed playing pool with his friends while she did not want a view of the pool table.

The other challenge was the physical location of where the addition could be located as there were an existing pool and patio off the rear of the home thereby dictating the addition be located behind the existing garage and accessed through the existing corner of the kitchen (which they were not planning on remodeling).

Our solution was to connect the new space with the existing kitchen via a circular transition space which serves as both a dining area and entrance to the new entertainment room. This was done with minimal disturbance to the kitchen and was designed with a glass roof which filled the kitchen with natural light, provided a nice vista from the new space to the existing house, and illuminated the dining area in the evening with the glow of the evening sky. To address the requirement of not having the pool table in full view but, at the same time, allowing guests to feel as they were in one room, a free-standing stone see-thru fireplace was designed to “divide” the middle of the space with each end being held off 5’ from each side exterior wall of the room. This provided wide openings making the two spaces feel as one while “hiding” the pool table.