Mountain’s Edge Home with Endless View

Our clients chose this property perched on the rim of the Watchung Mountains in NJ for its location which provides endless views to the west, south, and New York City to the east. A sizable 1960’s ranch house with a full basement and a detached 3-car garage existed on the large property and was situated in a prime location for the views.

The original house, however, was about 60 years old, was fairly well-built, but in dire need of updating with a floor plan that did not suit the owner. Most rooms were small and had 8’ high ceilings and plainly lacked drama. It was decided that the new home would utilize the existing “L-shaped” foundation footprint and most of the first-floor framing where practical, but a new plan would be conceived along with additions to expand existing rooms and create new spaces.

A paramount design parameter was that the view would be omnipresent in as much of the house as possible. Sun orientation was also an important consideration to allow natural light to penetrate the home.

Our firm conceived a two-story plan arranging the living spaces and some ancillary areas on the first floor with the bedrooms on a second floor to maximize views. All of the daily family spaces have a south-facing location and arranged so each has a view. The master bedroom suite is also on the south side and includes a view-facing balcony. 

A two-story stone and stucco-covered entrance portico with Spanish Cedar ceiling greets visitors via a courtyard which opens into a grand foyer, also having an open vista through the house with views to the south. A custom-designed Spanish Cedar heavy-timber ceiling truss was designed for the foyer ceiling adding to the 2-story drama.

The dining room, typically only used occasionally, was located on the front of the home adjacent to the foyer. Since the family does entertain family and friends on holidays, we placed glass doors on the front courtyard wall so that the room may be opened during fair weather, extending the usable space to the outdoors. The dining room also has a southern view through adjacent spaces.

A guest/au pair suite is located next to a new 2-car garage wing and the existing detached 3-car garage now has a connecting breeze-way to the main house allowing under-cover access. One of the 3 garage bays was converted to an exercise room and the remaining bays provide 2 additional garage spaces.

The new kitchen is located on the south east corner of the house taking advantage of both morning light and the view including New York City to the east. Immediately accessible from the kitchen eating area is a covered porch, complete with an outdoor kitchen and gathering area.

All of the south-facing rooms have direct access to the large patio and views and flow seamlessly toward the infinity-edge pool.