Simonds Road — Lexington, MA
Two-story addition and whole-home renovation
2,243 SF → 3,712 SF  |  1,165 SF added
Architect: InkStone Architects, Concord, MA
Built to Lexington Stretch Code, HERS 52
Completed 2024

The floor plan had stopped working. Just over 2,200 square feet spread thin across a small first floor, a smaller second, and a garage that read as an afterthought.

Working from InkStone Architects’ drawings, we added 1,165 square feet across two stories and reorganized what was already standing. The house finished at 3,712.

The move worth noticing: the second floor got smaller — 554 square feet down to 452. Instead of bolting a box onto the back, the plan redistributed the existing volume and rebuilt the upstairs around a new main bedroom suite. The added space went where the family actually lives.

Because the addition cleared 1,000 square feet, Lexington’s Stretch Code put the job under a HERS 52 ceiling — a target you build toward from framing, not fix at the end. R-21 walls, R-60 ceiling, R-15/19 at the basement.

None of that shows up in a photograph. It’s most of what makes the house comfortable in February.