Recognizing the best features of a house and
incorporating them into a remodeling project are
likely predictors of a successful outcome.
This property had originally been designed in
a Japanese style both inside and out, with landscaped
gardens featuring koi ponds and bamboo
groves. However, the house itself was due for renovation, with a new master bedroom and bathroom
being the first stage of the project.
Designer Clay Aurell of AB Design says the
owners‘ brief to him was to remodel this wing of
the house in keeping with the Japanese style of the
existing house, to respond sympathetically to the
gardens, and to provide views of the mountains in
the distance.

“Their vision was to have a new master suite
that captured the tranquil outlook and provided a
spa-like experience,” he says. New doors and windows were added to open
up the wall overlooking the deck and gardens. The
deck was extended, and a hot tub that overhangs a
small stream and waterfall was integrated into it.
“Inside, the space available for the bathroom
was quite small, so we had to rely on a few clever
tricks with the vanity and shower to create a sense
of expansiveness,” says the designer.

The owners had already seen the bathtub they
wanted, so this became the focus. Tucked across
one end of the room, below a large window, it looks
across the garden to distant mountains. A drainage
trough on three sides is filled with small stones.
Because the bathroom is narrow, the vanity
is shallower than a traditional vanity. It has wallmounted faucets over two long, narrow basins that
run left to right to save space, and a shelf instead
of cupboards or drawers below the vanity, which
helps create an open appearance.
The shower opposite is also long rather than
deep, so the enclosure has floor-to-ceiling glass on
two sides to maintain the sense of space.
Storage is also cleverly detailed, with the mirror
above the vanity concealing a recessed medicine
cabinet, and additional space provided by a tall
cabinet in the toilet. “These devices help the bathroom to feel more spacious than it is dimensionally,” says Aurell. Materials reflecting the surrounding gardens
and the Japanese style include a bamboo floor in
the bedroom, a smooth pebble floor in the bathroom,
a teak vanity, shower base, bath surround
and shelving, and pocket shoji screens between the
bedroom and bathroom.