ROOM TO GROW

An addition and new outdoor living space transformed a Midcentury ranch into a house that’s all about family.

- AMY BURGER

An addition was always part of Tom and Megan Wall’s plan for their 2,700-square-foot home with no basement and a dated master suite.

When the Walls purchased the Creve Coeur house, in 2011, their two boys, now 7 and 4, weren’t yet born. But once they came along, renovating the property to modern standards became even more important. The couple began with an overhaul of the first-floor living space and kitchen, then moved on to the kids’ rooms and shared bathroom.

“Once they started getting older, their toys and their lives started spilling out into the common spaces, and we realized we didn’t have space for everything,” says Tom, owner/principal with Mitchell Wall Architecture and Design, “so we started talking about how we were going to tackle the addition.”

Tom began working on the design in 2016, seeking to create a space that would match the style of the house while providing a place for storage and room to entertain and raise a family.

“The whole thing was designed around being family-oriented,” Tom says. “We wanted a house the kids could grow into. We decided that, once we do this, we’re here for the duration.”

The home’s proximity to the property line meant that the Walls were limited in how far they could expand to the north, so the addition would have to run east/west—but the home’s north end roof already had a vault running east/west.

“To add another at the same level would create problems with water runoff, not to mention being awkward to look at,” Tom says. “It became apparent that the best option would be to expand not only out but also up. What the house required to look correct drove a lot of what we did.”