Klopf Architecture, Arterra Landscape Architects, and Flegels Construction updated a classic Eichler open, indoor-outdoor home. Expanding on the original walls of glass and connection to nature that is common in mid-century modern homes. The completely openable walls allow the homeowners to truly open up the living space of the house, transforming it into an open air pavilion, extending the living area outdoors to the private side yards, and taking maximum advantage of indoor-outdoor living opportunities. Taking the concept of borrowed landscape from traditional Japanese architecture, the fountain, concrete bench wall, and natural landscaping bound the indoor-outdoor space. The Truly Open Eichler is a remodeled single-family house in Palo Alto. This 1,712 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom is located in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Klopf Architecture Project Team: John Klopf, AIA, Geoff Campen, and Angela Todorova Landscape Architect: Arterra Landscape Architects Structural Engineer: Brian Dotson Consulting Engineers Contractor: Flegels Construction Photography ©2014 Mariko Reed Location: Palo Alto, CA Year completed: 2014

This house was designed as a second home for a Bay Area couple as a summer retreat to spend the warm summer months away from the fog in San Francisco. Built on a steep slope and a narrow lot, this 4000 square foot home is spread over 3 floors, with the master, guest and kids bedroom on the ground floor, and living spaces on the upper floor to take advantage of the views. The main living level includes a large kitchen, dining, and living space, connected to two home offices by way of a bridge that extends across the double height entry. This bridge area acts as a gallery of light, allowing filtered light through the skylights above and down to the entry on the ground level. All living space takes advantage of grand views of Lake Washington and the city skyline beyond. Two large sliding glass doors open up completely, allowing the living and dining space to extend to the deck outside. On the first floor, in addition to the guest room, a “kids room” welcomes visiting nieces and nephews with bunk beds and their own bathroom. The basement level contains storage, mechanical and a 2 car garage. Photographer: Aaron Leitz

Small elegant ceramic tile kitchen photo in Other with white cabinets

Centered on six full-sized city lots in the heart of Portland’s Irvington neighborhood, this historic estate badly needed a new kitchen and a reconceived connection to the spacious grounds at the rear of the home. The owner’s impeccable design sense was a perfect match for Emerick Architects’ skill and space planning. The craftsmen at Hammer & Hand brought their vision to life with wood, stone, cabinetry, and paint in the sun room, master suite, great room, and kitchen remodels. Extensive casework detailed to exactly match the complicated profiles of the existing house makes the addition a truly seamless remodel.

Oakland, CA: Addition and remodel to a rustic ranch home. The existing house had lovely woodwork but was dark and enclosed. The house borders on a regional park and our clients wanted to open up the space to the expansive yard, to allow views, bring in light, and modernize the spaces. New wide exterior accordion doors, with a thin screen that pulls across the opening, connect inside to outside. We retained the existing exposed redwood rafters, and repeated the pattern in the new spaces, while adding lighter materials to brighten the spaces. We positioned exterior doors for views through the whole house. Ceilings were raised and doorways repositioned to make a complicated and closed-in layout simpler and more coherent.

Inspiration for a small transitional open concept dark wood floor living room remodel in New York with white walls, a standard fireplace, a music area, a stone fireplace and no tv

Example of a classic kitchen design in Houston

Located in the Midtown East neighborhood of Turtle Bay, this project involved combining two separate units to create a duplex three bedroom apartment. The upper unit required a gut renovation to provide a new Master Bedroom suite, including the replacement of an existing Kitchen with a Master Bathroom, remodeling a second bathroom, and adding new closets and cabinetry throughout. An opening was made in the steel floor structure between the units to install a new stair. The lower unit had been renovated recently and only needed work in the Living/Dining area to accommodate the new staircase. Given the long and narrow proportion of the apartment footprint, it was important that the stair be spatially efficient while creating a focal element to unify the apartment. The stair structure takes the concept of a spine beam and splits it into two thin steel plates, which support horizontal plates recessed into the underside of the treads. The wall adjacent to the stair was clad with vertical wood slats to physically connect the two levels and define a double height space. Whitewashed oak flooring runs through both floors, with solid white oak for the stair treads and window countertops. The blackened steel stair structure contrasts with white satin lacquer finishes to the slat wall and built-in cabinetry. On the upper floor, full height electrolytic glass panels bring natural light into the stair hall from the Master Bedroom, while providing privacy when needed. archphoto.com

Oakland, CA: Addition and remodel to a rustic ranch home. The existing house had lovely woodwork but was dark and enclosed. The house borders on a regional park and our clients wanted to open up the space to the expansive yard, to allow views, bring in light, and modernize the spaces. New wide exterior accordion doors, with a thin screen that pulls across the opening, connect inside to outside. We retained the existing exposed redwood rafters, and repeated the pattern in the new spaces, while adding lighter materials to brighten the spaces. We positioned exterior doors for views through the whole house. Ceilings were raised and doorways repositioned to make a complicated and closed-in layout simpler and more coherent.

Oakland, CA: Addition and remodel to a rustic ranch home. The existing house had lovely woodwork but was dark and enclosed. The house borders on a regional park and our clients wanted to open up the space to the expansive yard, to allow views, bring in light, and modernize the spaces. New wide exterior accordion doors, with a thin screen that pulls across the opening, connect inside to outside. We retained the existing exposed redwood rafters, and repeated the pattern in the new spaces, while adding lighter materials to brighten the spaces. We positioned exterior doors for views through the whole house. Ceilings were raised and doorways repositioned to make a complicated and closed-in layout simpler and more coherent.

Spacecrafters Photography
Example of an arts and crafts green exterior home design in Minneapolis

Pull out knife block makes use of a small space while keep essential cooking tools close at hand. ~ Brian DalBalcon Photography
Kitchen - mid-sized transitional kitchen idea in Seattle

A little girls room with a pale pink ceiling and pale gray wainscoat This fast pace second level addition in Lakeview has received a lot of attention in this quite neighborhood by neighbors and house visitors. Ana Borden designed the second level addition on this previous one story residence and drew from her experience completing complicated multi-million dollar institutional projects. The overall project, including designing the second level addition included tieing into the existing conditions in order to preserve the remaining exterior lot for a new pool. The Architect constructed a three dimensional model in Revit to convey to the Clients the design intent while adhering to all required building codes. The challenge also included providing roof slopes within the allowable existing chimney distances, stair clearances, desired room sizes and working with the structural engineer to design connections and structural member sizes to fit the constraints listed above. Also, extensive coordination was required for the second addition, including supports designed by the structural engineer in conjunction with the existing pre and post tensioned slab. The Architect’s intent was also to create a seamless addition that appears to have been part of the existing residence while not impacting the remaining lot. Overall, the final construction fulfilled the Client’s goals of adding a bedroom and bathroom as well as additional storage space within their time frame and, of course, budget. Smart Media

Example of a minimalist galley concrete floor and gray floor utility room design in Portland with flat-panel cabinets, light wood cabinets, wood countertops and a concealed washer/dryer

Photos: Ken Mori, David Hennessy (Dwell Magazine), Sebastian Mariscal Studio, Rebecca Wilson
Inspiration for a modern landscaping in San Diego.

The redesigned kitchen opened up this wall. The new configuration provides a pass-through serving counter that improves the connection between the kitchen and breakfast area. Although the square footage of the kitchen is the same as before, the new arrangement feels much more spacious and congenial.

The living room, dining room, music area, and a bar are all located within a single large space. This open concept facilitates the flow while entertaining quests and allows for uninterrupted transition of events throughout the evening. The ceiling coves cleverly hide linear a/c diffusers, hence you will not see them throughout the house. And the LED linear lighting and floating ceilings delineate different areas of the space. Large four-panel sliding glass doors on two walls open up this living and entertaining space to the outdoor living room, wrap around infinity lap pool, pool deck, and outside entertaining space. The large Mahogany sliding door panels open up the interior and outdoor spaces to one another and facilitate smooth/natural flow of the entertaining guests inside and out. Throughout the main living space, in lieu of traditional accessories, for this home, we opted to incorporate client’s unique memorabilia. They personalize the home and provide a unique approach to accessorizing. From helmets, trophies, custom sculptures, and racing car models, this home truly reflects the connection between owner’s life in the fast lane and the serenity of an escape. Each time you visit the home, the subtle architectural details continuously attract. Quite possibly, it’s due to the tone-on-tone color scheme, simple-looking but complicated and engineered design, floating illuminated ceilings that give space a lot of interest without overpowering the rooms. It creates a background that changes throughout the day and creates a backdrop for Client’s possessions. As you move through this open floor plan home, large full height windows and doors and uninterrupted ceilings extend from inside to the outside and while they identify the various spaces they give you the illusion of openness between the interior and exterior world. Photography: Craig Denis

This fast pace second level addition in Lakeview has received a lot of attention in this quite neighborhood by neighbors and house visitors. Ana Borden designed the second level addition on this previous one story residence and drew from her experience completing complicated multi-million dollar institutional projects. The overall project, including designing the second level addition included tieing into the existing conditions in order to preserve the remaining exterior lot for a new pool. The Architect constructed a three dimensional model in Revit to convey to the Clients the design intent while adhering to all required building codes. The challenge also included providing roof slopes within the allowable existing chimney distances, stair clearances, desired room sizes and working with the structural engineer to design connections and structural member sizes to fit the constraints listed above. Also, extensive coordination was required for the second addition, including supports designed by the structural engineer in conjunction with the existing pre and post tensioned slab. The Architect’s intent was also to create a seamless addition that appears to have been part of the existing residence while not impacting the remaining lot. Overall, the final construction fulfilled the Client’s goals of adding a bedroom and bathroom as well as additional storage space within their time frame and, of course, budget. Smart Media

Home bar - rustic home bar idea in Boston