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Houzz TV: 1960s Teardown Now a Bright and Airy Modern Farmhouse

A more thoughtful layout and fresh style create a new home filled with Southern California sunshine

Mitchell Parker November 12, 2019

Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor.

Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative... More

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After their three kids moved away to attend college, Olga and Eric Dean felt that their sprawling ranch house in North Tustin, California, was just too much house. To be closer to their children and the beach, they sold the house, moved into a rental property in nearby Costa Mesa and began looking for a house to fit their pared-down lifestyle. They found a 1960s home that suited their needs but required major attention. So they assembled a design and construction team to make sense of the chopped-up layout that had given the laundry room and powder room the best views in the house.

Architect Denis La Roche reconfigured the floor plan and worked with general contractor Jason Adams to raise the roof and add lots of windows to create a bright and airy modern-farmhouse-style home that feels more connected to its large backyard.

Before Photo

Houzz TV: A 1960s Teardown Turns Bright and Airy Modern Farmhouse

Streamline Construction “after” photos by Leigh Ann Rowe; all other “after” photos by Darlene Halaby Photography

House at a Glance
Who lives here: Eric and Olga Dean and their two Cavachon dogs, Buddy and Daisy
Location: Costa Mesa, California
Size: 2,700 square feet (251 square meters); three bedrooms, three bathrooms
Architect: Denis La Roche of La Roche Architecture
General contractor: Jason Adams of Streamline Construction

Before: The existing house had an entry that was virtually nonexistent. “Nobody could find it,” La Roche says.

Inside, the layout “didn’t look like it was very well thought out,” he says, noting the location of the laundry room and powder room that overlooked the large backyard.

The construction team took the house down to the studs, removed walls and added a new garage and roof to create a more open, light-filled home. “It was kind of a hybrid — half major remodel and half new home,” La Roche says.

Watch now: See this 1960s teardown transformed into a beautiful modern farmhouse

Darlene Halaby Photography

After: La Roche created a new, easy-to-find entry, while a white board-and-batten exterior delivers fresh modern-farmhouse style.

Olga and Eric’s contractor, Jason Adams, whom the couple found by searching Houzz for general contractors in their area, also handled the landscaping.

Search for general contractors near you

Darlene Halaby Photography

A swing chair and custom 48-inch-wide maple Dutch door with beveled glass windows energizes the entry. Opening the top portion of the door lets cross breezes flow through the house while keeping the Deans’ two beloved Cavachon dogs, Buddy and Daisy, safe inside.

Streamline Construction

Views of the backyard are immediately available once inside the generously sized foyer, which features floor-to-ceiling custom millwork.

La Roche relocated the kitchen, dining room and family room toward the back of the house to give them views of the backyard.

Darlene Halaby Photography

A new vaulted roof creates an airy feel in the combined family, kitchen and dining great room. “I dislike hallways intensely,” La Roche says. “They’re just dark spaces.”

Olga, who has renovated several homes in the past and once worked as a real estate broker, took the lead on selecting the furniture and finishes. “I just knew what I wanted,” she says.

“Houzz was really pivotal for me, and I relied on Houzz for generating ideas in my own head and confirming ideas of where I wanted to go. I spent hours upon hours scouring pictures and really defining what I wanted. It was such an incredible resource for me.”

Watch now: See how this transformation came together

Streamline Construction

Numerous windows flood the home with sunshine. “I always tell my clients if you’re going to spend money, spend it on a door and window system because it just really makes the house,” La Roche says.

“I’m never going to put window coverings on there, ever,” Olga says. “It’s just so light and open and airy. It’s hard to feel gloomy in there.”

Darlene Halaby Photography

Olga told La Roche that she and Eric wanted to be able to see the TV from the kitchen and dining table because the family loves getting together every Sunday, Monday and Thursdays to eat dinner and watch football together. They were also thinking ahead to a time when their family would grow again. “I wanted a kitchen that was very family-friendly because I knew that my family was going to be evolving to where my kids are having partners and starting families in the next few years,” she says.

White cabinets surround a stained-wood island with a marble-like quartz top for a simple, bright yet warm palette. Streamline Construction custom built all the cabinetry in the home.

The floors are wide-plank white oak hardwood. “They are so warm and resilient,” Olga says. “Not fussy at all.”

Darlene Halaby Photography

Here, Eric, left, and Olga gather around the island with Adams. Olga hired him after talking with at least 10 other contractors. Adams’ numerous Houzz reviews won her over. “I was astounded by the reviews,” she says. “They just blew me away.”

Darlene Halaby Photography

The white backsplash tile features a shimmery abalone-like strip that forms a chevron pattern.

Watch now: Go inside this beautiful modern farmhouse on Houzz TV

Darlene Halaby Photography

La Roche placed the laundry room, powder room and this large walk-in pantry in the middle of the house — “where they should be,” he says — so the living spaces and bedrooms would have outdoor views.

Darlene Halaby Photography

The gray quartz kitchen countertop extends into the dining area to double as a buffet area during football-watching nights.

Streamline Construction

Large sliding doors connect the dining area to the patio and barbecue.

Streamline Construction

Wood-look tile wraps the family room fireplace. Most of the lighting throughout the house is from Hinkley Lighting.

Darlene Halaby Photography

A four-poster bed, lots of windows, views of the backyard and a beamed, vaulted ceiling create a refreshing retreat in the master bedroom.

Darlene Halaby Photography

In the spacious master bathroom, a makeup station splits two large custom wood islands topped with Carrara marble. Olga ordered lots of material samples from Houzz, including the 8-by-8-inch cement tile that she ended up inlaying on the floor. People told her she’d get tired of the cement tile, but she says she loves “it more today than when we finished the house.”

La Roche was able to save the Deans some money by not moving the plumbing around too much. “We didn’t have to dig trenches across the slab, so that worked out fairly well,” he says.

Streamline Construction

Carrara marble tile in various shapes fills the large shower.

Streamline Construction

In this guest bath, a custom white vanity sits below a stained oak-framed mirror custom made by Streamline. The shower floor is hexagonal Carrara marble tile and the walls are 3-by-6-inch gray subway tile.

Streamline Construction

A mudroom sits just outside the entrance to the home from the garage.

Before Photo

Before: This photo of the rear of the existing home shows the state of disrepair it was in. You can see a crumbling roof line, cracks in the patio and an aging, empty swimming pool.

Streamline Construction

After: The Deans had the pool filled in partly because it was built in the 1960s and would have had to have been completely redone and partly because they wanted to make way for more party space — Olga prefers dancing to swimming anyway. They created a covered patio area for dining and lounging and a large fire feature and seating in a shady corner of the lot.

Darlene Halaby Photography

Thirty-two feet of cushioned seating creates a comfortable lounge area around the fire feature.

Before Photo

Before: This floor plan shows the layout of the existing home. The laundry room and powder room in the upper left enjoyed some of the best views in the house, toward the backyard.

Floor Plan Houzz TV: A 1960s Teardown Turns Bright and Airy Modern Farmhouse

After: La Roche’s reconfigured floor plan puts the main living spaces and bedrooms on the outer walls of the home to enjoy light and views and locates the powder room, mudroom, pantry and laundry room in the middle.

“I’m in a continuing love affair with my house,” Olga says. “I don’t see myself moving for a while.”

Watch now: See the Deans share how they made their dream home happen

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