Renovating an ugly duckling: the story of Meadow Glen of Richmond

Nursing Homes, Sept, 2004 by Richard McClellan

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Although almost the entire building was renovated, a few major areas are worth focusing upon.

Dining room. We opened up the front wall to create a more dramatic, yet welcoming, entrance. Two glass doors with sidelights now allow a view of the dining room in the background as one enters the building. Through these double doors, one's eyes are drawn to the two decorative chandeliers that replaced the pedestrian hanging fans and light fixtures, and to the newly expanded and decorated wall in front of the kitchen. That wall was doubled in width, and the fireplace removed and replaced with a large sideboard with framed pictures above, adding to the warmth of the room.

The large size of the room was softened in scale by adding a chair rail with a dark red tone on the bottom half. Large storage closets were installed on either side of the entrance, with end walls that are angled as one enters the dining room (a facility can never have enough storage space.) Lush window treatments on both side walls enhance the feeling of an elegant dining space. Outside, we added courtyards extending beyond the covered porches, with trees, flowers, and a patio for residents to enjoy viewing as they dined.

Living rooms. The two living room areas were redefined by function and totally redecorated accordingly. One became a comfortable and inviting library, with two distinct sitting areas, each separated by enough space for privacy (figure 3). The other room is an informal, fun recreational space decorated with a tropical flair. It has a large-screen TV, two game tables, and nice sitting areas.

Porches. Each living room opens onto a large covered porch that is furnished with inviting wicker furniture. The concrete slabs were faux-painted; for example, the one off the informal media/game room resembles local brownstone. That porch also was screened and has become a popular place for residents to spend long afternoons and early evenings. The other porch was faux-painted in the gray tones of flagstone (figure 4), again with similar wicker furniture, but in this case the porch was left open to the new adjacent courtyard.

Beauty parlor. This space was transformed into a much more exciting room--a "total makeover"--with black-and-white photos of popular Hollywood actresses of the 1940s adorning the walls and the use of complimentary colors to make hair styling a fun experience (figure 5). This has proven to be a very popular locale for residents several times a week.

Private dining. Our inspiration for this space came from the first Meadow Glen in Leesburg. There, an old farmhouse was preserved, including the original dining room, which was set aside for families to use for birthdays or other private occasions. In this facility, we took an unused interior room, gutted it, and re-created an attractive dining/meeting space that is reminiscent of nearby Williamsburg (figure 6).

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Conclusion

Now that we have completed our renovation of this truly ugly duckling property, we have begun to see swans (appropriately enough) gracing a nearby pond. Families flock here, too, to see the transformation for themselves, and many have decided to have loved ones stay with us.