I can not help but listen to my mother’s voice repeating a tidbit of parental knowledge: “Good things come to those who wait.” Well, seeing how designer Dino Maniaci fell in love with his fantasy house 25 years before actually purchasing it, let us just say mothers can be quite perceptive.
Maniaci had liked the place and kind of the Madison, Wisconsin, midcentury house, but he especially prized its setback, far from the street, which lent it closeness in a comparatively dense area. At the time, however, he could not financially undertake its catchy interior layout challenges. The prior owner, who had been in a wheelchair, had reconfigured the plumbing and electrical elements — outlets were 2 feet off the ground, for instance — and created wide corridors in an ad hoc fashion.
So instead of purchasing the house right then, Maniaci purchased a single-story warehouse in east Madison and waited. And waited some more. Eventually, when his fantasy house came up for a sale about a year ago, he and partner Jason Hoke were in a position to scoop this up. From this point the house was fairly dilapidated, so that they set about the long-awaited contemporary makeover and expansion.
in a Glance
Who lives here: Dino Maniaci, Jason Hoke and their Whippet, Stewie; Maniaci and Hoke own Spawoof (a puppy day care) and Woof’s sports bar
Location: Madison, Wisconsin
Size: 2,200 square feet; 3 bedrooms; 21/2 bathrooms
Photos by Tricia Shay Photography
Before Photo
Bruns Architecture
At a serendipitous occasion, Hoke and Maniaci were traveling to separate company trips when they both flipped through precisely the same magazine and allowed a house by Madison architect Stephen Bruns. Returning home in their trips, they showed each other the house and decided to employ Bruns to deal with the remodel.
On the first house, the near lack of windows has been a answer to preserving privacy from surrounding neighbors. But the connection to the outdoors was missing. So Bruns wondered how he could create views to the outside spaces without opening up windows directly onto views into the neighbors’ homes and vice versa.
Bruns Architecture
This caused a subject of openness satisfies intimacy. Spaces open into the outdoors, but architectural expressions subtly preserve privacy.
In addition, the pair knew they desired to bring a second-level main bedroom suite, but did not need to replicate the entire ground-level floor program, therefore Bruns made one second-floor suite that is piled up from the first house layout.
To get the look right, he performed raising portions of the house and analyzing the way that made sense while traveling through the public and personal spaces, and what that did geometrically and aesthetically to the structure. He landed a layout that created architectural interest while iterating the romantic but open concept Hoke and Maniaci were hoping for.
To come up with the latter, Bruns produced a series of courtyards, the first of which starts at the entrance, which can be enclosed by a midcentury concrete display. “These was ubiquitous in the 1960s, but the provider had to discover the molds and dig them out,” he says. “They not only have a durability and robustness because of the masonry; there is a transparency and delicacy for this doesn’t include you in a harmful manner.”
Bruns Architecture
The entrance courtyard “tells the whole story of the house before you get to the front door,” Bruns says. “It puts you into a personal outdoor area behind a display wall, but with a connection to the entrance. You experience a degree of privacy that is just steps from the street.”
Bruns painted the first teal-colored vertical cedar siding gray. Meanwhile, new horizontal cedar siding provides warmth to the exterior.
The roofing cutouts over the entryway lessen the number of pieces required, plus let light flow into the courtyard and interior.
Bruns Architecture
This timber and steel stairs design shows up in a lot of Bruns’ jobs. It has a good look and feel but at precisely the same time appears to float.
Bench: Design Within Reach
Bruns Architecture
Bruns refaced the first white brick fireplace with grey stone. Built-in shelving creates action between the dining and living spaces. The shelving on the left becomes a buffet in the dining area. On the right the shelving takes on the role of hearth and display plate.
Maniaci managed each of the interiors, with Bruns cooperating across the best way to respond with the appropriate palettes that would work with the furnishings and art. “He had been respectful of not needing to detract from the design intent of the architecture,” says Bruns. “And I had been respectful of the participation and guidance of the way that they wanted to address specific material finishes.”
Bruns says he likes to think of a house in some respects as a museum. “Not as cold and primitive, but as a great background for art and life,” he says. “Instead of painting walls a lot of vibrant colors, I push slightly more neutral backdrops so art, furnishings and individuals who live there become that layer of vibrancy.”
Sofa: West Elm; chair: Design Within Reach
Bruns Architecture
Table: One Kings Lane; chairs: Safavieh Home Furnishings
Bruns Architecture
One of Bruns’ largest architectural moves was continuing the porcelain tile in the entryway into the kitchen to interrupt the brand new prefinished bamboo flooring. He then took the wood the ceramic substituted and slid that up to reinforce the ceiling and create an area that is more intimate than the adjoining locations.
Hood: Wolf; cooktop: Granite; sink: Kraus; cabinets, countertops, flooring: Nonn’s Design Showplace
Bruns Architecture
The first floor wraps around a centre courtyard, which Bruns added by taking a significant bite from the first floor plan. The new suite rises overhead. The architectural levels beneath the patio hide some mechanical and structural elements.
Hoke and Maniaci liked the midcentury-style pitched roof to the first house and wanted to maintain a similar style. The back half of the house has the first roof, while the brand new addition mirrors its pitch.
Bruns Architecture
They saw a comparable three-sided fireplace in a novel and requested Bruns to re-create it. “It does a remarkable job of containing controlling and smoke breezes,” Bruns says.
Bruns Architecture
For the brand new bedroom accession, Hoke and Maniaci desired an industrial element. Bruns delivered using a composite metal and wood truss sloped ceiling.
A partial solitude wall cubes viewpoints from neighboring homes while maintaining the treetop scenery. “It’s rather illuminating up there,” Bruns says. “You never realize you are in a fairly dense area.”
Bed collection: The Century House
Bruns Architecture
The bedroom patio is the most personal of the outside spaces. The pair have their morning coffee here and reunite in the evenings near the outside fireplace.
Bruns Architecture
A reduced cumaru wood flooring creates a more romantic zone in the primary toilet; differently, the ceiling is open to the steel and wood trusses that run over the bedroom.
Maniaci, abandoned, and Hoke pose using their 2-year-old champion Whippet, Stewie. Hoke has purebred dogs since he was 9 years old and contains judge’s standing for more than 35 breeds. He’s guessed the Westiminster pet show in New York and Mexico City.
Interior layout by Dino Maniaci, Mani & Company
All finish carpentry, railings and information by Bradley Squire, Madison Design & Construction