Tim and Sara Wondolowski love their circa 1810 home in Lexington’s historic district, but it was missing one thing: a garage. Ironically, a painting they found hidden in their attic proved to be an inspiration for constructing a new carriage house to serve as their garage.

After many months and meetings with Lexington’s Historic Districts Commission, the Wondolowski received permission to construct a post and beam style carriage house that would not only provide much-needed storage but would add historic character to the property. For the design and materials, Tim contacted Country Carpenters, in Southern Connecticut, who specialize in post and beam New England style out buildings.  The team at Country Carpenters milled and shipped all of the materials needed to construct the carriage house.

It was at this stage that Bill Farnsworth and the Custom Contracting team became involved. Tim interviewed a number of potential contractors, but none worked out until a friend suggested CCI. “We were excited to be involved in this project from the start,” said CCI’s President Bill Farnsworth. “This was a unique opportunity to build an historic style building with pre-milled materials.”

Ground was broken for the foundation in October 2018 and construction started soon thereafter. The driveway needed to be removed and redone to allow for the correct elevation to meet up with the garage and to provide proper drainage. As a result, the walkways from the house were also redone to connect to the new driveway.

After three months the project was mostly complete and overhead doors were ordered to match the style of the building. The Historic Districts Commission weighed in on exactly what was permissible regarding finishes. For example, the Wondolowski’s weren’t able to add a decorative cupola to the roof and their paint color choices were limited. In the end, the carriage house will be painted grey.

In the end, the new carriage house is a beautiful interpretation of what an original out building would have looked like. The Wondolowski’s are thrilled to have garage space for their cars and to have maintained the integrity of their historic home.