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photo provided by Cynthia Chagin
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photo provided by Cynthia Chagin
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photo provided by Cynthia Chagin
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photo provided by Cynthia Chagin
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photo provided by Cynthia Chagin
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photo provided by Cynthia Chagin
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photo provided by Cynthia Chagin
Cynthia Chagin had her work cut out for her when she bought a Richfield home in 2021, moving in at the end of May.
The home was built in 1961 — and looked it. “The house hadn’t been touched in years,” says Chagin, who buys, restores and sells homes. She has worked as an electrician and is also an actor who you can see in “White Noise” featuring Adam Driver slated for a 2022 Netflix release.
In the span of 14 months, Chagin redid the whole house, gutting the Dutch colonial and redoing the kitchen and 2 1/2 bathrooms. She also put on three additions, adding a total of 800 square feet, to increase the size of the house by one-third. One of the additions came by converting one of three bays of the garage into office space and adding a hallway and mudroom; another was made by turning a back porch into a four seasons room.
“One of the least expensive ways to add value to your home is to increase the square footage when there's already a foundation in place,” says Chagin, who plans to sell it this winter. “Putting in walls, windows and electrical doesn’t cost much.”
The experienced do-it-yourselfer shares how she added a four seasons room to connect with nature on the serene 2-acre lot.
Basics: The room, formerly the porch, had a concrete base and a roof but wasn’t enclosed. Chagin blew insulation into the white soffit ceiling and hired roofers to put on a new roof and frame out the enclosure. She did the rest, installing drywall, white vinyl tile flooring and more in about three weeks. She planned to add ductwork but discovered a pleasant surprise. “I studied the basement very carefully and realized there were ducts in the wall. I could feel the heat from the wall, so I cut into the wall and found the duct,” she says. “Within 20 minutes, it was a heated and air-conditioned room.”
Windows & Doors: Views of the secluded backyard are paramount, so the new 13-by-26-foot room has five windows — “I wanted as many windows as I could put in,” she says — and a sliding glass door. It’s nearly soundproof since one of its walls was previously an exterior wall. “I can watch TV pretty loudly, and nobody can hear me,” she says. “I just wanted to create spaces away from the main living space that were peaceful. Everyone’s so focused on an open floor plan until they realize how noisy it can be.”
Lights: In addition to all the natural light, Chagin hung two crystal dandelion chandeliers. Dandelions are a symbol of growth, love and happiness, she says. “It was the perfect embodiment,” she says. “It used to be an outdoor space.”
Decor: The goal of the room was a seamless transition from outdoors to indoors, so Chagin used beige colors to decorate, playing off the wood used in the rest of the interior. She took off the vinyl siding to uncover the home’s original siding — as well as exposed brick from the back of the living room fireplace that she later painted white — to tie together the house’s clean white aesthetic and create an inviting feel. “I wanted it to be a family home, but also a showpiece,” she says.
