Building With Style: A Study in Compromise

This 1,700-square-foot 1856 house in Vermont is nicely sited along the north side of a narrow town lot. Unfortunately, the garage, in the back of the house, cuts the living and eating spaces off from the backyard, and the downstairs floor plan is a mess. To cure these flaws, the owner wants to move the garage to the rear and to the south — opening the rear of the house to a patio, light, and air — and rework the floor plan. Moving the garage is straightforward enough. The floor plan is trickier. As it is, you enter directly into the living room and have to walk through it and the dining room to reach the family room