Developer Jeff Ellis and his son Adam more than doubled the size of a Midtown bungalow by pitching its roof to accommodate a second floor. Yet from the street the house still appears single story.

In Virginia-Highland, architect Joel Kelly used a lot's steep terrain to create a basement wine cellar and tasting room for a new three-level house that blends with other Arts and Crafts-style homes nearby. But it has 5,400 square feet, compared with 2,000 in the house it replaced.

And near Piedmont Park, interior designer Jeff Jones ripped off the front of a two-story apartment building and replaced it with an entire traditional cottage facing the street, while inside the attached house, there's an unexpected two-story glass and steel atrium. From the street, the house looks very much like its neighbors.

The three projects demonstrate how fans of intown living can supersize a bungalow with large-home amenities inside without indulging in McMansion overload on the outside --- a subject of ongoing debate.

The controversial issue of infill development surfaced last year as residents of Atlanta's old neighborhoods increasingly --- and loudly --- complained to the City Council about developers tearing down older houses and building out-of-scale giants that overshadowed neighboring homes. City planners have since been charged with potentially revising zoning ordinances to address neighborhood concerns and perhaps require scaled down versions of new homes.

In the meantime, designers are devising ingenious ways to create big houses in a small footprint for homeowners who want their houses to fit in.

"You can still have a spacious home intown without harming the fabric of the neighborhood, " Kelly says. "If you're going to write laws dictating what you can build, you need to address design guidelines, not square footage."

Existing Atlanta zoning restrictions already limit building height (35 feet maximum), setbacks from property lines (typically 7 feet on the sides and 15 to 30 on front and back) and lot coverage (No more than 50 percent can be covered with an impervious surface, including patios and driveways).

The problem, Kelly says, is that as more suburbanites tire of long commutes and discover intown convenience, builders have rushed to give them the same "big decorated box" common in suburbs. He and others building in town understand the desire to stop that practice, but they don't want new restrictions that would limit the size of interiors.

"You don't want to make any restrictions so strict that they're totally developer-unfriendly, but at the same time we need some design guidance, " says Adam Ellis, a real estate agent, working with his dad to renovate a Midtown investment.

MAKING ADJUSTMENTS

The Ellises and Kelly used the footprints of existing homes, yet in their place built houses more than double the size of the originals.

Two years ago, empty nesters Ellis and his wife Patti sold their Fayette County home and moved into Midtown. "When Patti dragged me in to look at the place, I said, 'Oh, my God. What have you brought me to?' "

But he quickly fell in love with the constant activity in a neighborhood where folks jog, bicycle and walk dogs. They renovated and added a second floor to a deteriorating house next door to Jeff's latest project. "You have a front porch in the burbs, but nobody uses it, " he says. "Here, you live on one because people are constantly stopping to chat."

He wanted his renovated home to blend with the overall look of the intown street. "So to make the new house fit, you take the wide suburban house and turn its end to the street, " he says, "so that you take advantage of the lot's depth while blending the facade with your neighbors', as it should be."

Still, the couple wanted new-construction amenities, including a home office. Jeff found room on the second floor by relaxing the side gables' pitch to gain more attic space.

For the renovation he's doing as an investment with his son next door, he went up with a full second floor at the rear of the house. From the street, however, both houses still appear single story, with gables and roof lines that complement each other.

On Virginia Avenue, Kelly also took advantage of a steep roof pitch to conceal a second floor for homeowner Pete Mounts, and because of the steeply sloped lot, was able to include a full basement. At 5,400 square feet, the three-level house appears no larger than its neighbors. "Color really helps, too, " Kelly says. "Bright white trim tends to make anything look new, while soft ivories and more muted tones give a house a little age."

So does roof color, says Jones, recommending subtle grays over reds or blues, and mature landscaping. Ten years ago, when Jones and partner Mike Boykin built their first house next door to their current one, they hauled in large ligustrum shrubs to help soften the exterior.

"When you design a new home to look old, you have to go back to the big [roof] overhangs, the 10- to 12-inch thick columns, thicker trims, beefier porch railings, " Jones says. "We actually went door to door asking people if we could measure their porch columns."

RETHINKING LIFESTYLES

Even when they can't have the same square footage they enjoyed in the suburbs, urban newcomers are forced to take a hard look at how they manage tight quarters.

"Do you really need six TV rooms that these big houses have?" Jones says. "You have to determine what kind of space you really need and design that so that you have money left over for furnishing it."

Shifting priorities often lead to unconventional floor plans and multi-functional spaces. In Jones and Boykin's house, the main level includes the living room and kitchen, while bedrooms and offices are in the basement. Rooms are arranged around a central atrium of glass and steel. "We wanted modern, but we didn't want to do that to the neighborhood, " says Jones, so he designed a traditional cottage with a wide front porch and cedar-shake exterior to hide the contemporary interior. They rent out apartments in the rear half of the original building, which they hope to renovate next.

To increase their interior space, the Ellises used every inch they could find under the attic eaves. They even paved their driveway in strips instead of a solid surface to reduce the percentage of lot coverage.

And for Mounts, Kelly drafted a loft-like floor plan that's "owner-centric." Since the owner loves to entertain, the kitchen and large family room form the home's nucleus. Kelly found the space by eliminating hallways and making less-used rooms smaller. An office found a home in a backyard carriage house. Upstairs, he took advantage of the steep roof by vaulting ceilings to create vertical space to make the rooms feel big.

High ceilings, light-colored walls, large windows and proper lighting make an interior feel much larger than it is. Even laying all floorboards in one direction puts stretchers on a space visually.

"Sometimes, size is just all about what a space feels like, " Jones says, "not what it actually measures."

WAYS TO FIT IN OUTSIDE

> Focus on scale, not size, when designing an exterior in an older neighborhood. Mimic architectural features of neighboring homes, such as wide trim and corner boards, thick columns and wide overhangs.

> Choose subtle colors for roofing shingles and siding. Avoid primary colors and stark white trim, which make a house appear new.

> Consider a hip roof, which extends back, instead of a steep one, which can be imposing. Break up a roof line into sections, which makes the house look smaller.

> Choose the most mature landscaping you can afford, such as large trees, for softening the exterior, Plant varieties found in older neighborhoods.

WAYS TO FIT IN INSIDE

> Vary the pitch of the roof to take advantage of attic space. Use eave space for storage.

> Be open to unconventional floor plans, such as an office in the basement.

> Eliminate unnecessary hallways where possible and doors that consume wall space.

> Consider more than one use for a space, such as guest room that doubles as an office.

--- Jeff Jones, Joel Kelly and Jeff Ellis