Letting In Natural Light in Jonathan and Zooey’s New Home

To ensure the Park House allowed in as much natural light as possible, Jonathan went solar in more ways than one.

More Inside The Design: The Park House

Solarium

Zooey and I love to entertain, so we designed the Park House with lots of options: dinner parties, game nights, movie nights, you name it. But we wanted a home filled with natural light, which was part of the appeal of the Park House when we bought it. How would we marry the two?

One of those entertaining spaces is the solarium, which we converted from an outdoor patio space. Now, we have an enclosed space with an incredible glass roof from Global Solariums. Everybody who comes into the solarium does a double take, because they’re not expecting it! But it’s such a great opportunity to enjoy outdoor living year-round.

On the second level, there’s a catwalk, because all the bedrooms open onto the solarium to help with connectivity and the feel that everyone’s sharing the same space. The railings all the way around were done by Emerick’s Ironworks, who have worked with us on many of our shows. The ironwork looks great and lends a historically accurate feel.

Letting The Light In

The solarium is the, er, shining example of natural light that flows throughout the Park House. The house is full of windows, from the tall, beautiful doors across the front of the house, to the gothic arches in the main bedroom suite. But like many historic houses, most of the windows were single-pane and leaking both water and energy.

Jonathan and Zooey’s main suite. Look at all that light!

We reached out to Pella, who came in and did a full window replacement, but without losing any of the architectural details. Now, our windows are safer, way more energy efficient, and still let in that incredible natural light that lends the Park House its name.

Ready to see more? Check out our Inside The Design: Park House series on YouTube!