[upbeat music]

Today, we're at 4 Main Street in New Canaan, which is the 2019 "This Old House" idea house.

The idea of this house was to start with a historic structure.

There was one here that was in pretty sad shape.

And the idea was to bring it up to modern standards, to keep elements of the existing historic structure, but create a modern, interesting, lively living space attached to it and kind of merge the two elements together.

The house is in the Historic District, so we were required by the Historic District Commission to save the front and side façade.

Anything you can see from the street has to be saved.

We restored all the windows, original windows, original exterior trim, original interior trim.

And then you'll see throughout the house different hints of what was here before, kind of a peek to the past.

The common thread in the design was the combination of the traditional and modern, so it wasn't a cold, sterile space, but a warm, lively space instead.

And one of our personal things was trying to bring as much outdoors in as we could.

The difference when you put the skylights in in addition to the windows, you really don't need the lights.

I mean, the house is so bright.

And then we did the central front staircase, which goes four floors.

And by using the SkyMax skylights above that area, I mean, you really have this central stream of sunlight that takes the whole house and makes this centerpiece that's really vibrant and enhanced by the sunlight coming through it.

The master bathroom was a nice challenge for us.

We wanted it to be a dynamic space, so it has a very high ceiling.

And the skylights allow the light to be an amplifier for that high ceiling.

And also, it allows you to ventilate some of the moisture, also to get a little bit of a breeze going through the bathroom.

It really just contributes to the overall feel of the space.

On the back stairwell, we were trying to take a space that some people would maybe just use as a hallway and make it into kind of have a kids' study area, arts and crafts area.

It's the part where the family is probably mostly gonna be entering and exiting the house.

So we wanted to make it, you know, a cheery, exciting space.

So the skylights at the top really help that by providing light for the stairway.

And then also the upper level is a study area, so the skylights provide some beautiful light.

The view of the sky through the skylight is very invaluable.

There's a little bit of a disconnect, I think, between people in the natural environment, at times, with the way we live today.

And I think that brings a bit of nature and gives a little bit of harmony to the space.

[upbeat music]