Ventnor Residence

Location: Ventnor, NJ

Size: 2,000 SF

Year: 2021

Project Type: Single-Family Residential Company: Tantillo Architecture

Role: Space Planning, 3D, Documentation

This project was brought to the firm by a client who purchased a beach house in Ventnor, NJ. The home was built in the ‘50s and featured a highly subdivided floor plan and very few bathrooms. Our client wanted to create a large open space for entertaining, as well as add several bedrooms and bathrooms to the home, via an addition off the back.

I worked with the city to understand the zoning requirements and implications a major addition had on this currently nonconforming lot, and responded accordingly while working on space planning the home. Later in the project, the client decided to raise the house to be lifted out of the flood zone, and I worked on redoing the pricing documents to reflect this change accordingly.

Lifting the home out of the flood zone permitted the creation of a garage on the ground floor. Our client also desired to have a porch overlooking her street to interact with neighbors, however due to the setback requirements, we could not build outward. As a compromise, we researched folding wall systems as a way to create a similar effect.

Throughout the process, our client stressed the importance of creating an open-concept entertaining space for friends and family to visit. She also wanted the space to feel as connected to the outdoors as possible, so we retained an existing sunroom and added a large deck off the back.

Our client responded very well to 3D imagery, as a way to get a feel for her new space. I created a comprehensive SketchUp model of the ground floor that could be walked through and edited in real time to better suit her needs or test ideas.