Historic firehouse rekindled as family's home

Arched bays for trucks and ladders remain intact in the old brick firehouse in the heart of the Kentlands neighborhood in Gaithersburg, Md. But in place of garage doors are curtained cedar windows, wood paneling and a mahogany front door. A broadly curving deck extends off the back, and a second-floor balcony projects from one side.

The domestication of the firehouse into living spaces for a family of four has resulted in one of the most unusual homes in the New Urbanist community.

Alexander and Jackie Krakovsky bought the fire station in 2013 from the city of Gaithersburg for $200,000. They spent about $800,000 to convert the two-story structure into their family home and add a free-standing two-car garage. They moved into the renovated landmark about a year ago but have yet to decide how to use some rooms.

“We kicked the contractor out as soon as we could so we could move in, but we're still figuring it out,” says Alexander Krakovsky, 49, a real estate developer and co-founder of a power company, who points to unfinished areas of the basement and in-law suite at the side of the house.

The firehouse was built by Otis Beall Kent, whose estate was turned into Kentlands, to house his collection of antique fire engines. The 1961 building incorporated a 1900-era carriage house and a greenhouse.

After acquiring the property in 1992, Gaithersburg designated the firehouse a historic resource and, in 2013, selected the Krakovskys' proposal to turn the dilapidated structure, into a single-family house.

Though the city required the Krakovskys to preserve the exterior, the homeowners were given free rein on the inside. “In order to be able to do a project of this size, we had to get creative,” says Jackie Krakovsky, 48. “Nothing is standard or ordinary.”

The homeowners worked with architect Craig Moloney of CEM Design and builder Chris McKee of McKee Construction to transform the interior into two levels of living areas and bedrooms for themselves and their daughters, Eliana, 16, and Samantha, 12. “We tried to leave as much of the original architecture as we could,” Moloney says. “The structural aspect of the design was the biggest challenge in creating the types of spaces that the Krakovskys were looking for.”

Once rigidly divided into compartments for trucks and equipment, the main floor is now open and bright with some walls painted lime green or a pale orange. Cinder-block partitions between the truck bays were demolished to create a kitchen open to the dining and living areas at one end. Concrete walls were replaced with steel columns and beams to support the structure and help define various parts of the interior. One of the kitchen posts is clad in walnut; another, encased in drywall, abuts a gas fireplace between the kitchen and living area.

Although much of the new structural steel is hidden in the ceiling, it remains exposed around the staircase that leads to the second floor. Contrasting with its industrial vibe are chunky walnut stair treads made from timbers found in a Frederick, Md., barn. A banner inscribed with a Dr. Seuss verse and a samovar from Alexander's native Ukraine adorn the stair landing.

The original brick staircase to the basement is intact, but an archway on the main level that led to the stairs was turned into a niche for art. A new door, inconspicuously installed to the side of the staircase, now provides access to the lower level, whose fixtures include geothermal heat pumps and a backup gas furnace.

The new heating, plumbing and electrical systems required the digging of channels in the concrete floor on the main level to accommodate ducts, pipes and wiring. The concrete was covered with wood framing and plywood and finished with oak flooring from the Hicksville Planing Mill in Clear Spring, Md.

The staircases occupy the center of the house, dividing the kitchen and dining-living area on the main level from a home office, a powder room and an in-law suite with its own street entrance. Alexander's office is built so that part of a wall, now covered with shelving, can be removed and the in-law suite expanded into that space.

“The whole idea is built-in flexibility,” Jackie says. “The rooms can be changed as we grow into the house.”

On the second level, a room at the top of the stairs serves as a home gym filled with exercise equipment, but Jackie says it could become a library. The family's three bedrooms, on either side of the gym, include a master suite with bedroom, bathroom and walk-in closet. Another home office and a laundry room, also used for craft projects, are on the second story.

Adjoining Samantha's bedroom are stairs leading to the attic, and an original painted sign, warning, “Caution: low head clearance,” is preserved in the stairwell. The fire station's siren also remains intact. “We had to keep it as required by the local preservation commission,” Jackie says.

In furnishing the house, the Krakovskys saved money by shopping Web sites, big-box stores and salvage shops. In the kitchen, stained cherry cabinets and stainless-steel appliances are organized around an island with bar stools from Overstock.com and pendant lighting from Lowe's. The vintage Scandinavian-modern dining set, console table and hutch came from Craigslist. Cabinets in the butler's pantry and master bathroom and flooring in a second-floor laundry room were purchased at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Metal lighting fixtures from an old railroad car hang in the hallway near the powder room.

Blooming inside the skeletal remains of the old greenhouse is a vegetable garden recently planted by the homeowners. Replacing the metal structure's missing glass panes is a project for the future. “We are still trying to figure out the engineering and project management of this,” Alexander says. “It is not as simple as it looks.”

At the northeast corner of the property, the homeowners built a two-car garage in brick matching the firehouse's exterior. The garage's interior is still unfinished but part of the space will be turned into Alexander's home office. The garage is wired for charging an electric car.

The Krakovskys originally considered erecting a fire pole to connect the home's second and first levels, but they decided against it for cost and authenticity reasons. “The pole wasn't there to begin with,” Alexander says. “It would have been cool if it was, but it felt a bit disingenuous to put one in.”