Hill Court
The Hill Court mid-century duplex remodel was one of the most extraordinary building opportunities of my career. The site, while logistically a challenge, has some of the best unobstructed views in the East Bay, and made coming in to work joyful every day. The 1956 structure received a seismic upgrade, and complete gut remodel with all new finishes, systems, revised floor plan, decks, new exterior stucco, landscaping, garage doors, paint and driveway aprons.
In order to stay consistent with the minimalist mid-century bones of the project, we used super clean timeless materials, white paint with a cool grey hue, and warmed things up with the VG fir door casing, fireplace mantels and rift-sawn white oak lower cabinets in the kitchens. The views don't hurt either!
Outdoors we used low maintenance composite decking coupled with a VG Redwood handrail and fence. Drought tolerant plants, and a very modest amount of green grass worked nicely in the small yard areas, providing just enough outdoor space while not compromising a low maintenance condo lifestyle.
A bit of history was found in the walls on this site. Handwritten notes from 1956, presumably from the builder himself, revealed a line item construction budget of just north of $20,000, approximately the same cost as the building permit for this remodel project! Things have changed!
In order to stay consistent with the minimalist mid-century bones of the project, we used super clean timeless materials, white paint with a cool grey hue, and warmed things up with the VG fir door casing, fireplace mantels and rift-sawn white oak lower cabinets in the kitchens. The views don't hurt either!
Outdoors we used low maintenance composite decking coupled with a VG Redwood handrail and fence. Drought tolerant plants, and a very modest amount of green grass worked nicely in the small yard areas, providing just enough outdoor space while not compromising a low maintenance condo lifestyle.
A bit of history was found in the walls on this site. Handwritten notes from 1956, presumably from the builder himself, revealed a line item construction budget of just north of $20,000, approximately the same cost as the building permit for this remodel project! Things have changed!
Project Year: 2013
Project Cost: $750,001 - $1,000,000
Country: United States
Zip Code: 94708
