Design rendering for a whole house remodel and addition in San Ramon, California, by Taragano Design & Build. The front elevation is where a whole house project either reads as finished or reads as patched. On a ranch of this era the original face is usually a long low wall broken only by the garage door, which leaves nothing for the eye to land on and no clear indication of where the front door is. The roof does the work here. Raising the plane over the garage and running it at a shallower slope than the main body separates the two volumes, so the house reads as composed parts rather than one continuous run. The entry sits in the step between them, which is what makes it findable from the street without adding a portico or any applied detail. Everything else is restraint. Smooth stucco, a flush panel garage door, and dark trim against light walls. On a house this simple, contrast in the openings is what gives the elevation any depth, and adding materials would only make it busier without making it better. The front yard was planned as drought tolerant planting rather than lawn, which suits the exposure on this side of the house and the water constraints most of our clients are working within. Licensed general contractor, CSLB #1143420. Diamond Certified.