Bernardsville, New Jersey

In 2018, Principal Dan Nichols of Ragan Design Group was asked by the then owner of the Frank Lloyd Wright designed James Christie house in Bernardsville, New Jersey, to explore a means to expand the house’s kitchen to better suit the owner’s large family gatherings.

Dan’s proposed design was based on the premise that the house didn’t need to be enlarged, rather the existing space needed to be better suited to the then current owner’s needs. The Christie house was unusual among Wright’s Usonian houses in that it was designed for a live-in maid. Wright provided a maid’s sleeping room, closet, and bathroom adjacent to the house’s kitchen and service entrance. A previous owner had converted the maid’s quarters into a home office and powder room. With the owner’s comment that the home office was not needed for a house most often used for weekends and holidays, Dan proposed removal of the partition between the kitchen and the home office (and necessary roof re-support) to allow the kitchen to expand into the former maid’s quarters/office space. The powder room would swap its sink and door locations to move its access to the entry area rather than the kitchen.
The owner opted not to make changes to the Christie house, and instead acquired a house better suited to their needs.

Bernardsville, New Jersey