Architecturally significant 1930's art deco jewel designed by noted architect Hervey Clark, whose projects include the War Memorial in the Presidio, the US Consulate in Japan, and several buildings on the Stanford campus. Situated on just over 3 acres with 4,435 sq. ft. of living space, this elegant gated property offers privacy, expansive views of Ross Valley, Mt Tam, and the bay. Other features include deco period details, inlaid hardwood floors, dramatic pool, and a large partially covered deck that offers true indoor/outdoor living.

Architecturally significant 1930's art deco jewel designed by noted architect Hervey Clark, whose projects include the War Memorial in the Presidio, the US Consulate in Japan, and several buildings on the Stanford campus. Situated on just over 3 acres with 4,435 sq. ft. of living space, this elegant gated property offers privacy, expansive views of Ross Valley, Mt Tam, and the bay. Other features include deco period details, inlaid hardwood floors, dramatic pool, and a large partially covered deck that offers true indoor/outdoor living.

Architecturally significant 1930's art deco jewel designed by noted architect Hervey Clark, whose projects include the War Memorial in the Presidio, the US Consulate in Japan, and several buildings on the Stanford campus. Situated on just over 3 acres with 4,435 sq. ft. of living space, this elegant gated property offers privacy, expansive views of Ross Valley, Mt Tam, and the bay. Other features include deco period details, inlaid hardwood floors, dramatic pool, and a large partially covered deck that offers true indoor/outdoor living.

Photo: Ten Ten Creative
Wet bar - transitional single-wall dark wood floor and brown floor wet bar idea in Dallas with shaker cabinets, black cabinets, black backsplash, subway tile backsplash and gray countertops

This gem of a house was built in the 1950s, when its neighborhood undoubtedly felt remote. The university footprint has expanded in the 70 years since, however, and today this home sits on prime real estate—easy biking and reasonable walking distance to campus. When it went up for sale in 2017, it was largely unaltered. Our clients purchased it to renovate and resell, and while we all knew we'd need to add square footage to make it profitable, we also wanted to respect the neighborhood and the house’s own history. Swedes have a word that means “just the right amount”: lagom. It is a guiding philosophy for us at SYH, and especially applied in this renovation. Part of the soul of this house was about living in just the right amount of space. Super sizing wasn’t a thing in 1950s America. So, the solution emerged: keep the original rectangle, but add an L off the back. With no owner to design with and for, SYH created a layout to appeal to the masses. All public spaces are the back of the home--the new addition that extends into the property’s expansive backyard. A den and four smallish bedrooms are atypically located in the front of the house, in the original 1500 square feet. Lagom is behind that choice: conserve space in the rooms where you spend most of your time with your eyes shut. Put money and square footage toward the spaces in which you mostly have your eyes open. In the studio, we started calling this project the Mullet Ranch—business up front, party in the back. The front has a sleek but quiet effect, mimicking its original low-profile architecture street-side. It’s very Hoosier of us to keep appearances modest, we think. But get around to the back, and surprise! lofted ceilings and walls of windows. Gorgeous.

Architecturally significant 1930's art deco jewel designed by noted architect Hervey Clark, whose projects include the War Memorial in the Presidio, the US Consulate in Japan, and several buildings on the Stanford campus. Situated on just over 3 acres with 4,435 sq. ft. of living space, this elegant gated property offers privacy, expansive views of Ross Valley, Mt Tam, and the bay. Other features include deco period details, inlaid hardwood floors, dramatic pool, and a large partially covered deck that offers true indoor/outdoor living.

Architecturally significant 1930's art deco jewel designed by noted architect Hervey Clark, whose projects include the War Memorial in the Presidio, the US Consulate in Japan, and several buildings on the Stanford campus. Situated on just over 3 acres with 4,435 sq. ft. of living space, this elegant gated property offers privacy, expansive views of Ross Valley, Mt Tam, and the bay. Other features include deco period details, inlaid hardwood floors, dramatic pool, and a large partially covered deck that offers true indoor/outdoor living.

Architecturally significant 1930's art deco jewel designed by noted architect Hervey Clark, whose projects include the War Memorial in the Presidio, the US Consulate in Japan, and several buildings on the Stanford campus. Situated on just over 3 acres with 4,435 sq. ft. of living space, this elegant gated property offers privacy, expansive views of Ross Valley, Mt Tam, and the bay. Other features include deco period details, inlaid hardwood floors, dramatic pool, and a large partially covered deck that offers true indoor/outdoor living.

Architecturally significant 1930's art deco jewel designed by noted architect Hervey Clark, whose projects include the War Memorial in the Presidio, the US Consulate in Japan, and several buildings on the Stanford campus. Situated on just over 3 acres with 4,435 sq. ft. of living space, this elegant gated property offers privacy, expansive views of Ross Valley, Mt Tam, and the bay. Other features include deco period details, inlaid hardwood floors, dramatic pool, and a large partially covered deck that offers true indoor/outdoor living.

Norwood House is a 55 year old center hall Georgian Revival style house that sits on an expansive piece of property across from the main campus at Kent Place School. The house and grounds are owned and maintained by the School, and serve as the primary residence for the Head of School and her family. The property is also used on occasion for school functions. Since there have been no significant improvements to the property since the 1980’s, we worked with the School to improve the entire house and surrounding grounds. Specifics included creating a mudroom between the garage and the kitchen, relocating the dining room and family room to improve the flow of the first floor layout, adding three pairs of French doors in the sunroom leading out to a new bluestone patio, gutting and redoing the kitchen, renovating all of the bathrooms, and refinishing the basement. The scope also encompassed various infrastructure improvements, including a new roof, new windows, new high efficiency HVAC and lighting, etc. For the project, we also worked closely with Frances Chester, a local Landscape Architect, on improving the property with new plantings, walkways, patios, driveway, lighting, etc. The school required that the project be complete by the beginning of the 2014 school year. We worked the Contractor, Owner’s Rep, and members of the Board of Trustees to have construction completed within 5 months, which was a very aggressive schedule for a project of this size.

At St. Paul Parish, To Design worked with a building committee to design and implement a major campus expansion, which included a gathering space, prayer garden, promenade, and open lawn.

This gem of a house was built in the 1950s, when its neighborhood undoubtedly felt remote. The university footprint has expanded in the 70 years since, however, and today this home sits on prime real estate—easy biking and reasonable walking distance to campus. When it went up for sale in 2017, it was largely unaltered. Our clients purchased it to renovate and resell, and while we all knew we'd need to add square footage to make it profitable, we also wanted to respect the neighborhood and the house’s own history. Swedes have a word that means “just the right amount”: lagom. It is a guiding philosophy for us at SYH, and especially applied in this renovation. Part of the soul of this house was about living in just the right amount of space. Super sizing wasn’t a thing in 1950s America. So, the solution emerged: keep the original rectangle, but add an L off the back. With no owner to design with and for, SYH created a layout to appeal to the masses. All public spaces are the back of the home--the new addition that extends into the property’s expansive backyard. A den and four smallish bedrooms are atypically located in the front of the house, in the original 1500 square feet. Lagom is behind that choice: conserve space in the rooms where you spend most of your time with your eyes shut. Put money and square footage toward the spaces in which you mostly have your eyes open. In the studio, we started calling this project the Mullet Ranch—business up front, party in the back. The front has a sleek but quiet effect, mimicking its original low-profile architecture street-side. It’s very Hoosier of us to keep appearances modest, we think. But get around to the back, and surprise! lofted ceilings and walls of windows. Gorgeous.

Tom Arena
Large traditional three-story brick exterior home idea in Providence with a hip roof

Renovated 1950's MidCentury Ranch. Added New Carport with Natural Wood Soffits to Match Original. Opened Entire Front Wall of House to Create Private Front Patio. New Aluminum Windows with Clerestory. Tigerwood Front Patio Fence Enclosure. Photography by the amazing David Lauer. www.davidlauerphotography.com

Photography: Anice Hoachlander, Hoachlander Davis Photography.
Large 1960s beige one-story brick gable roof idea in DC Metro

Lara Swimmer Photography http://www.swimmerphoto.com/
Industrial glass flat roof idea in Seattle

This gem of a house was built in the 1950s, when its neighborhood undoubtedly felt remote. The university footprint has expanded in the 70 years since, however, and today this home sits on prime real estate—easy biking and reasonable walking distance to campus. When it went up for sale in 2017, it was largely unaltered. Our clients purchased it to renovate and resell, and while we all knew we'd need to add square footage to make it profitable, we also wanted to respect the neighborhood and the house’s own history. Swedes have a word that means “just the right amount”: lagom. It is a guiding philosophy for us at SYH, and especially applied in this renovation. Part of the soul of this house was about living in just the right amount of space. Super sizing wasn’t a thing in 1950s America. So, the solution emerged: keep the original rectangle, but add an L off the back. With no owner to design with and for, SYH created a layout to appeal to the masses. All public spaces are the back of the home--the new addition that extends into the property’s expansive backyard. A den and four smallish bedrooms are atypically located in the front of the house, in the original 1500 square feet. Lagom is behind that choice: conserve space in the rooms where you spend most of your time with your eyes shut. Put money and square footage toward the spaces in which you mostly have your eyes open. In the studio, we started calling this project the Mullet Ranch—business up front, party in the back. The front has a sleek but quiet effect, mimicking its original low-profile architecture street-side. It’s very Hoosier of us to keep appearances modest, we think. But get around to the back, and surprise! lofted ceilings and walls of windows. Gorgeous.

This gem of a house was built in the 1950s, when its neighborhood undoubtedly felt remote. The university footprint has expanded in the 70 years since, however, and today this home sits on prime real estate—easy biking and reasonable walking distance to campus. When it went up for sale in 2017, it was largely unaltered. Our clients purchased it to renovate and resell, and while we all knew we'd need to add square footage to make it profitable, we also wanted to respect the neighborhood and the house’s own history. Swedes have a word that means “just the right amount”: lagom. It is a guiding philosophy for us at SYH, and especially applied in this renovation. Part of the soul of this house was about living in just the right amount of space. Super sizing wasn’t a thing in 1950s America. So, the solution emerged: keep the original rectangle, but add an L off the back. With no owner to design with and for, SYH created a layout to appeal to the masses. All public spaces are the back of the home--the new addition that extends into the property’s expansive backyard. A den and four smallish bedrooms are atypically located in the front of the house, in the original 1500 square feet. Lagom is behind that choice: conserve space in the rooms where you spend most of your time with your eyes shut. Put money and square footage toward the spaces in which you mostly have your eyes open. In the studio, we started calling this project the Mullet Ranch—business up front, party in the back. The front has a sleek but quiet effect, mimicking its original low-profile architecture street-side. It’s very Hoosier of us to keep appearances modest, we think. But get around to the back, and surprise! lofted ceilings and walls of windows. Gorgeous.

Norwood House is a 55 year old center hall Georgian Revival style house that sits on an expansive piece of property across from the main campus at Kent Place School. The house and grounds are owned and maintained by the School, and serve as the primary residence for the Head of School and her family. The property is also used on occasion for school functions. Since there have been no significant improvements to the property since the 1980’s, we worked with the School to improve the entire house and surrounding grounds. Specifics included creating a mudroom between the garage and the kitchen, relocating the dining room and family room to improve the flow of the first floor layout, adding three pairs of French doors in the sunroom leading out to a new bluestone patio, gutting and redoing the kitchen, renovating all of the bathrooms, and refinishing the basement. The scope also encompassed various infrastructure improvements, including a new roof, new windows, new high efficiency HVAC and lighting, etc. For the project, we also worked closely with Frances Chester, a local Landscape Architect, on improving the property with new plantings, walkways, patios, driveway, lighting, etc. The school required that the project be complete by the beginning of the 2014 school year. We worked the Contractor, Owner’s Rep, and members of the Board of Trustees to have construction completed within 5 months, which was a very aggressive schedule for a project of this size.