In re-planning the house, we created a central, two-story “great room,” with a library balcony to organize the space for the house.  The old house had no spatial hierarchy or central spatial experience, so we had to carve this space out by collapsing multiple rooms on both floors into one great space.  This room gives a heart to the plan, and a needed hierarchy, and finally brings some natural light into what was historically a dark Victorian shell.