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Unlike the deck it replaced, the 16x18-foot four-season room that Dan and Pat Jens added to the back of their Park View offers them year-round enjoyment.

The Jenses took care to blend the addition to their existing home, both inside and outside, so that it wouldn't look tacked-on. Inside, they removed an exterior window (at left) and made it a pass-through to the kitchen, with a granite ledge that matches the granite in the kitchen. The French door (at right) was replaced with an doorway that matches those between other rooms.

BEFORE: This how the home looked with its original two-tier deck.

AFTER: This is how the home looks now, with the deck replaced with the four-season room. The Jenses also did extensive hardscaping, building a 16x18-foot patio of concrete pavers.

In building their addition, the Jenses "stepped in" the construction a couple of feet from the original house to break up what otherwise would have been one long sight line. The window below — formerly in the kitchen — provides light the storage area.

The new patio off the four-season room is defined by a half-wall at right. At left are curved, half-circle steps from the home's family room. Both the wall and the steps are inset with small lights that turn on when the sky gets dark, helpful for way-finding and to give illumination to the backyard.

They also replaced their concrete sidewalk with one made of patio-matching pavers. It curves around to the driveway rather that turning at a 90-degree angle.

The bar stools provide spots to sit to talk to someone working in the kitchen. The granite pass-through ledge also provides a surface from which to have a snack.

When Dan and Pat Jens built their house in Park View 35 years ago, they constructed a large two-tier wood deck on the back, overlooking a green space.

In time, the wood deteriorated and, while considering what to do next, they decided to switch from a deck to a 16-by-18-foot four-season room with storage below and a large patio off to the side.

They didn't arrive at the decision immediately, however. First they thought about deck replacement. The prospect of maintaining a wood deck as they got older was not appealing, though, and the price of alternative materials was high. They also considered a screened porch.

But they finally concluded that they would get the most value out of a four-season room they could use year-round — and enjoy the view of their green space without bugs.

"When the windows are open, it's like sitting outside," Pat said.  

The room they designed has windows with transoms on three sides, with a vaulted ceiling rising to an 11-foot peak in the middle. The peak has a heptagon-shaped window in the middle, flanked by two triangles.

They didn't want to close off the outdoors with window treatments, so they bought windows with built-in horizontal mini-blinds. That gives them the option of privacy and of shutting out the sun on particularly hot days.

In all their decisions, they tried to blend in the new construction so the addition wouldn't look as though it was tacked on.

Inside, where there formerly was a kitchen window opening to the deck, there is now a pass-through with a black granite ledge, matching the black granite in the kitchen.

The French door that opened to the deck has been replaced with an entryway that matches the entryway between the dining and living rooms.

The floor is covered with 24-by-12-inch ceramic tiles made to resemble stone, another recurring motif at the Jens house. A portion of the front facade and the fireplace are faced in stone, and the couple also decided — as part of the sunroom project — to build a stone patio.

"Once you start remodeling, you have to keep going until you're done," Pat said with a laugh.

Outside, the addition matches the rest of the house in terms of siding and shingle color, but it also is "stepped in" by about 2 feet to break up what otherwise would have been one long sight line.

"We did that so it doesn't look like an add-on," Pat said.

The storage underneath, with a foundation and concrete floor, works well for seasonal items such as lawn furniture, the lawnmower and the snowblower.

The lower tier of the deck — which was off to the side, not under the top tier — has been replaced with a patio made of tumbled concrete pavers. It, too, is about 16 by 18 feet.

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Unlike the deck it replaced, the 16x18-foot four-season room that Dan and Pat Jens added to the back of their Park View offers them year-round enjoyment.

The Jenses took care to blend the addition to their existing home, both inside and outside, so that it wouldn't look tacked-on. Inside, they removed an exterior window (at left) and made it a pass-through to the kitchen, with a granite ledge that matches the granite in the kitchen. The French door (at right) was replaced with an doorway that matches those between other rooms.

BEFORE: This how the home looked with its original two-tier deck.

AFTER: This is how the home looks now, with the deck replaced with the four-season room. The Jenses also did extensive hardscaping, building a 16x18-foot patio of concrete pavers.

In building their addition, the Jenses "stepped in" the construction a couple of feet from the original house to break up what otherwise would have been one long sight line. The window below — formerly in the kitchen — provides light the storage area.

The new patio off the four-season room is defined by a half-wall at right. At left are curved, half-circle steps from the home's family room. Both the wall and the steps are inset with small lights that turn on when the sky gets dark, helpful for way-finding and to give illumination to the backyard.

They also replaced their concrete sidewalk with one made of patio-matching pavers. It curves around to the driveway rather that turning at a 90-degree angle.

The bar stools provide spots to sit to talk to someone working in the kitchen. The granite pass-through ledge also provides a surface from which to have a snack.

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