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Wes and Claire Pennel
The original 2,300-square-foot home wasn’t quite enough space for the Pennels, their kids, and their dogs. The solution? Clear out an unneeded parking area and add an additional 1,000 square feet. That allowed the Pennels to open up their kitchen into a hearth room with a vaulted ceiling and include a screened-in porch complete with fireplace. One thing that remained the same during the renovation process, however, was the house’s original cedar shingle siding.
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Wes and Claire Pennel
The original 2,300-square-foot home wasn’t quite enough space for the Pennels, their kids, and their dogs. The solution? Clear out an unneeded parking area and add an additional 1,000 square feet. That allowed the Pennels to open up their kitchen into a hearth room with a vaulted ceiling and include a screened-in porch complete with fireplace. One thing that remained the same during the renovation process, however, was the house’s original cedar shingle siding.
During the summer of 2020, Wes and Claire Pennel were thinking about a change. Their Collierville neighborhood had met most of their needs, but it was time for their family to take the next step. A home went up for sale in their preferred part of the town, but transforming it to fit their requirements would require plenty of work. And if something needs doing, sometimes it’s best to do it yourself; Wes – who plies his trade as a homebuilder for Albertine Company in Collierville – and his wife Claire decided to tackle the remodeling process themselves. After months of work, the Pennels’ new-look Peterson Lake Road home was move-in ready and set to host their family for years to come.
“We moved into the new house in March this year,” says Claire. “We’d already been in Collierville for several years, but have always really liked this area.” And while the Pennels had enjoyed their old residence, an opportunity to move much closer to Town Square Park and Downtown Collierville had always held an allure. When their current Peterson Lake Road house came on the market, they quickly snapped it up. The 2,300-square-foot house didn’t need a full-scale overhaul, but the Pennels wanted a number of changes.
They aimed to renovate the kitchen, bathrooms, and living room. The interior layout of the home changed drastically during the remodeling process, with the kitchen, dining room, and living room all repurposed into one larger space. The project also saw an additional 1,000 square feet added to that section of the house.
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Wes and Claire Pennel
The original home’s basic galley-style kitchen was completely revamped into a larger, opened-up space with a sleek style bolstered by F and H Stone countertops, flooring from J&D Tile, and new appliances from Cenwood Appliance.
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Wes and Claire Pennel
The original home’s basic galley-style kitchen was completely revamped into a larger, opened-up space with a sleek style bolstered by F and H Stone countertops, flooring from J&D Tile, and new appliances from Cenwood Appliance.
The Pennels brought in designer Bruce Crane, of the By Design firm, to help formulate their style. One thing the team agreed on was keeping the home’s cedar shingle siding. “We felt like that was part of the original charm,” says Wes. “So he didn’t mess with that. But we’re in a heavily wooded lot that’s in the shade most of the day, and we didn’t want to simply have a dark exterior color scheme, so we did paint the brick on the outside.”
To begin tackling the interior, they needed to mold the kitchen from a galley-style design to something more effective for their planned space. “It was long and narrow, and opened up into a little 10-by-10-foot dining room area, which would then open into the living room,” says Wes. “It was just too closed off initially, so we combined the kitchen and dining room to create a bigger kitchen space. What was once the living room became our dining room area where we have our kitchen table.”
Opening up the central space made it easier for the family to include an addition. An old parking area was turned into a hearth room with a vaulted ceiling that opens into a screened porch and a fireplace. An office sits off to one side, while the new addition hosts the Pennels’ master bedroom and bathroom. “We made that into a full master bath,” says Wes. “It’s got a long vanity, a freestanding tub, and a master flush threshold shower.”
For the Pennels, keeping the addition proportional to the original house was very important. “We didn’t want it to dominate what was already there,” says Wes. “So it’s a little smaller, a little bit lower than the original building.”
The house’s upstairs bathroom proved the biggest challenge. The Pennels needing to gut it and change the dimensions without cutting into the space for the upstairs bedrooms. The tiny room originally contained just a small stand-in shower, a toilet, and quarter sink, which all had to make way.
“It was so tiny; it almost feels like if you had a full bathroom on an airplane, that would have been it,” laughs Wes. “The door wouldn’t be able to fully open if someone was in there.” The solution to that tricky task lay in the staircase. To accommodate a larger bathroom, the Pennels first had to take out the original staircase and turn it 180 degrees. That allowed them to incorporate the landing and part of the hallway in their design.
While Wes is an experienced builder, renovating an older house always presents challenges. This home, built in 1948, was expected to contain plenty of obstacles. “You always have to be ready for the unknown,” he says. “We thought long and hard about our floor plan and how we could make it work. Would the rooms shake out in a way that made sense to live in for our family? And of course, you’ve got wiring from the ’80s and some wiring from the ’40s. And then you’re trying to tie that in with basically an additional third to the house with plumbing, electrical, HVAC. But whenever we ran into a problem, we’d put our heads together and find an answer.”
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Wes and Claire Pennel
A contrast in styles from the old and new bathrooms. Small spaces with dated color schemes gave way to much bigger, modernized bathrooms with more amenities: a Raleigh Glass-inspired standing shower and upgraded faucets from Kimbel Mechanical.
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Wes and Claire Pennel
A contrast in styles from the old and new bathrooms. Small spaces with dated color schemes gave way to much bigger, modernized bathrooms with more amenities: a Raleigh Glass-inspired standing shower and upgraded faucets from Kimbel Mechanical.
Overall, the project took eight months to complete. And despite a few minor hiccups along the way, construction went smoothly, and the family is happy in the new home. “I love it,” says Claire. “We love the location, we love the layout that we went for, and just being able to put our own style to it. From the colors and fixtures, to exteriors and lighting, it’s the little touches that make a big difference. Wes being in this business really gave us the flexibility to pursue the style we wanted.”
“And one thing I’ll say is that we didn’t have many problems deciding on a direction,” adds Wes. “Even though we handled the renovations ourselves, I like to say that I did have a client for this project, and it’s my wife! Some couples that I’ve worked with might have different ideas about what they want to pursue, but Claire and I were almost always on the same page. So that really helped us move the process along smoothly.”
Having had several months to acclimate to their new home, the Pennels are delighted with the results. And with one kid in middle school and another just starting high school, they’re looking forward to occupying their remodel job for years to come.
“Our minimum goal is to have this be their home while they’re finishing school here and while they’re in college,” says Wes. “We’re five minutes from the Square, so they can leave the house and bike around the neighborhood, and have plenty of things to do while they’re here. We didn’t do all this to move again. We plan on being here for a long time.”
