Carmel Ridge Restoration

Tucked into 30+ wooded acres along State Road 45 in Nashville, Indiana, this historic farmhouse, originally built in the 1880s, was the starting point for a highly personal and detail-rich renovation. The homeowners approached us with a vision to reimagine their kitchen, rebuild a long-lost front porch, and create a program that would help guide future updates to the property. They were especially interested in maintaining the original character of the home while improving comfort, function, and flow. Among their goals: a kitchen that felt era-appropriate yet bright and modern, and a new south-facing porch built directly from a historic photograph and salvaged architectural fragments discovered on-site.

From the earliest stages, the project was rooted in reverence for the home’s history. Our design team drew inspiration from early 20th-century American schoolhouses and kitchens, incorporating period touches like schoolhouse globe lights, decorative cabinet feet, sink cutouts, and traditional corbels. The cabinetry design embraced variation and asymmetry, lending the kitchen a lived-in, layered feeling. On the exterior, the rebuilt porch relied entirely on a historic photo and a few original balusters to guide its proportions, materials, and detailing. Integrating new systems and finishes into a home with 1880s framing required careful planning and craftsmanship, including a major flooring transition between the original kitchen and the new addition.

The build team worked closely with the design crew throughout, navigating challenges like modernizing the mechanical systems to serve the new kitchen and developing concealed gutters that maintained the historic porch’s clean lines. One of the most distinctive elements of the project is the custom-milled and distressed red oak flooring. Sourced from a nearby sawmill in Helmsburg, Indiana, the new floorboards were hand-aged by our crew and stained to blend seamlessly with the original 150-year-old planks.

Craftsmanship was central to every phase of this project. Custom cabinetry balanced historical accuracy with daily function. The siding and porch carpentry used traditional materials but integrated modern insulation and performance strategies. The design-build method allowed for constant iteration and real-time problem-solving, essential in a project with so many legacy conditions and fine-tuned details.

The result is a home that feels whole: honoring the past while serving the needs of the present. It’s a space the clients now enjoy daily, surrounded by the landscape they love and the character they set out to preserve. We’re proud of the deep collaboration this project required and grateful to the entire design-build team for bringing it all to life.

Workshop Custom Details:
– Porch balustrades
– Redwood flooring

Photography: Nolan Calisch