Brandywine Senior Living at Haddonfield was in need of a facelift and some more space. The company wanted to expand new living quarters, but blend in with a historic Warwick Road property dating back to the 1850s. Retaining that character added a layer of scrutiny Brandywine had not encountered at its other assisted living residences. The company acquired the 52-unit former Haddonfield Home in late 2011 as part of a deal that included similar developments in Pennington, Wall and Watchung. At the time, there were more than 30 residents.

The residential addition in Haddonfield, built in 1953, had a lot going for it. The new owners had concerns: small living quarters; narrow hallways; apartments without showers, bathrooms or kitchenettes; a single elevator; communal space in a windowless basement. They weren’t sure to gut or completely demolish the site. Demolition won the day. But the historic part of the building stayed.

In order to move forward, Brandywine had to seek the blessing of the Haddonfield Historic Preservation Commission before work could commence. After seven months and a lot of back forth, the commission recommended approval for Brandywine. Construction involved removing the aluminum siding and stripping down to the original finishes.

Brandywine looked to Meyer Design, Inc. who provides interior and exterior architecture design for all of their properties for help on how to construct this unique historical property. Meyer was aware of EIFS issues that had plagued the area so they understood there was an importance some type of drainage in the wall assembly of the property. Recently, Benjamin Obdyke had visited the office to discuss how their product, HydroGap Drainable Housewrap, would do just that for them. Meyer had always seen the value in providing drainage, and had been specifying similar products long before the fiber cement manufacturers had been recommending them behind their sidings. After the presentation, Meyer had decided to go with HydroGap instead of using the leading housewrap brand on the market. Not only did HydroGap perform better in head to head testing, but it also provides a true drainage gap. The 1mm compression resistant spacers assures a continuous and efficient drainage gap, which the competition could not provide.