Rude Haus renovates Pennsylvania home with upcycled and vintage pieces
Local studio Rude Haus has renovated a home in New Hope, Pennsylvania with an assortment of hand-crafted elements, such as a dining room mural and curtains made with upcycled silk fabric.
Rude Haus wanted to avoid a muted colour palette in the project, the studio told Dezeen. Instead, it infuse the surrounding Pennsylvania countryside into the living spaces of Clover House by using bright colours and texture.
The house is filled with layers of ornate elements Rude Haus principals Maura Clark and Camila Chicarelli crafted themselves, such as handmade tiles depicting plants, animals and countryside motifs that frame the threshold between the living room and dining room.
The project entailed updating the main living areas of the split-level home after its owners performed initial renovations, which brought the house up to code, but left the entry, living space and kitchen feeling "smaller, too exposed and loud" according to Clark and Chicarelli.
Working with a restricted budget, the studio created different programmes in the open space, bringing in a playful, bright character that reflected the personality of their clients.
"Because the dining room and living rooms were adjacent and totally open, we felt that there was nothing to note the change of program except an awkward, unresolved change of ceiling height," said Clark and Chicarelli.
"We wanted to emphasise this change from the vaulted ceiling to the lower, cozy dining space, creating a unique threshold that we tiled with handmade tiles produced in-house and added small 'windows' for more permanence between the spaces without being entirely open."
In the living room, the pair sought to accommodate the client's love for movies and an extensive art collection. A vintage walnut Stanley Prowler cabinet was an important highlight.
"The living room needed to be multi-functional," said the studio
Rude Haus filled out the space with built-in shelving and framed the cabinet with deadstock Italian silk curtains. Salvaged 1970s linocut prints by artist Henry Evans cover the TV, while a moody sectional and a blocky chair by Kate Casey of Brooklyn studio Peg Woodworking fill out the space.
A cheery periwinkle was used to contrast the deep walnut of the Prowler cabinet. This colour was carried into the tone of the whole space, where it covers trim and ceiling beams.
"It felt like a color you'd never get sick of – and provided a nice balance to the wood tones in the house," said Rude Haus.
In the dining room, the studio hand-painted a mural, "drawing the outdoors inside," using paint donated by Benjamin Moore. A salvaged church pew sits along the wall, while additional chairs by Peg Woodworking sit in the space.
In the upstairs entryway, which was also refreshed for the project, a floral Thatcher wallpaper lines a vestibule.
Rude Haus installed a custom pocket door lined with the same material to close it off from the adjoining bedrooms, and further defined the space with a custom stained-glass transom.
The remaining space was filled with the client's objects, as well as work by 21 emerging artists and craftspeople, such as a wall sconce by Bianca Mead and ceramics by Claire Resnick.
Rude Haus, which also doubles as a contemporary design gallery and often installs exhibitions in situ, is currently presenting the pieces as a temporary online exhibition focused on sustainability, reuse and the playful nature of rearranging the home.
"While it's already turned back into a residential space now, there is another project in the coming years to be done in the house, so maybe there's more to come for the Clover House exhibition run," said the studio.
Other recent residential projects completed in Pennsylvania include a Frank Lloyd Wright-informed house designed by Specht Novak Architects and an IM Pei rowhouse in Philadelphia that was renovated by Shiftspace.
The photography is by Dante Guerra
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