Photo by Ethan Pines
Patio - modern courtyard patio idea in Los Angeles

This lovely little modern farmhouse is located at the base of the foothills in one of Boulder’s most prized neighborhoods. Tucked onto a challenging narrow lot, this inviting and sustainably designed 2400 sf., 4 bedroom home lives much larger than its compact form. The open floor plan and vaulted ceilings of the Great room, kitchen and dining room lead to a beautiful covered back patio and lush, private back yard. These rooms are flooded with natural light and blend a warm Colorado material palette and heavy timber accents with a modern sensibility. A lyrical open-riser steel and wood stair floats above the baby grand in the center of the home and takes you to three bedrooms on the second floor. The Master has a covered balcony with exposed beamwork & warm Beetle-kill pine soffits, framing their million-dollar view of the Flatirons. Its simple and familiar style is a modern twist on a classic farmhouse vernacular. The stone, Hardie board siding and standing seam metal roofing create a resilient and low-maintenance shell. The alley-loaded home has a solar-panel covered garage that was custom designed for the family’s active & athletic lifestyle (aka “lots of toys”). The front yard is a local food & water-wise Master-class, with beautiful rain-chains delivering roof run-off straight to the family garden.

Emily Followill
Kitchen - transitional dark wood floor kitchen idea in Atlanta with shaker cabinets, white cabinets, white backsplash, subway tile backsplash and an island

We designed this lovely, private dining area with custom wood-slat screens and a concrete kitchen complete with seating, grilling, counters and wood storage. Climbing hydrangea vines are being trained to extend over the custom window arbor.

Our client recently purchased a newly-constructed home in order to downsize and have a low- maintenance home and yard. The existing side yard/back yard was undeveloped by the builder, leaving the homeowner with the huge challenge of creating a great outdoor entertaining space for family and friends, while creating privacy and overcoming the over 8-foot steep drop from the existing back porch down to the alley. The grade was the largest challenge because the space was so narrow with such a large fall from existing porch to the property line. The second largest challenge is that this residence is located in a semi-private community where HOA approval of plans and materials is difficult, as all the residences here share a similar look and feel with a very clean and contemporary aesthetic. We had to precisely shoot grades to know what kinds of retaining walls would need to be constructed along with how much backfill soil and dirt movement would need to be done. After that the design had to carefully consider the space with maximum functionality for outdoor entertainment with newly constructed walls to ensure it would last for many years to come. All of this was done with multiple meetings with the homeowners who are a retired engineer and active architect themselves. Once a design was settled upon, then submission to the HOA board of approval had to be completed and signed off on with all questions and concerns answered for the community by-laws. The two biggest difficulties within the construction phase were that the neighbor next to the back yard had a large retaining wall not properly backfilled up to the property line. That neighbor wouldn’t allow us proper access and control to help alleviate the issues, so we had to skillfully work around this to ensure what we constructed would last, despite their property not being properly addressed. We also had to go through multiple shipments from the manufacturer due to large variances in the material’s appearance on the steps and another shipment that was broken during shipping. These two things delayed the project we were working to complete before the spring so the homeowner could have the maximum use of the space this year. Topping off this challenging construction was a beautiful palette of native grasses, rosemary, groundcover, granite walkways, and synthetic grass to ensure year-round, practically effortless beauty.

This project combines high end earthy elements with elegant, modern furnishings. We wanted to re invent the beach house concept and create an home which is not your typical coastal retreat. By combining stronger colors and textures, we gave the spaces a bolder and more permanent feel. Yet, as you travel through each room, you can't help but feel invited and at home.

Built for the Bluff, A Sea Ranch Home is Remade from the Inside Out The house had always been grounded, on an ocean bluff at The Sea Ranch. It sits unencumbered, adjacent to one of the most dramatic stretches of the Sonoma coast with protected commons meadow to the east, uninterrupted Pacific views to the west, and a bluff trail running alongside. What it lacked was the feeling of home, one that could hold up its own against the natural landscape. The owners are entrepreneurs with deep involvement across tech, real estate, and development and they know how things are built. The Sea Ranch house had been in their lives for years, a second residence and a place for family to gather. Built for a different time, it felt more compromising than comfortable. Sitting in a closed off nook, the kitchen fit one cook at a time and turned its back on the rest of the house. The entry was dim and compressed, divided by a structural column that presented itself at exactly the wrong moment. The primary suite was small relative to the view outside it. A large rear bedroom sat behind a lowered ceiling with a bathroom that had never been added. The house was certainly worth the trouble of doing it right. What followed was not one project but four, each with its own design challenge, each addressed over a period of time. Where the House Meets the Ocean The most complex piece of the project, in both structural and spatial terms, was the kitchen expansion. The existing room was a single-person galley squeezed in as an afterthought with no meaningful connection to the dining room, the living space, or the deck outside. To make it useful for a family that cooks and gathers, it needed to grow outward into an existing patio and flow into the rooms around it. A big challenge was the roofline. Several planes at different pitches and angles converged directly where additional volume was needed. A new form had to join that geometry without reading as a correction. The solution found the simplest possible connection between the existing angles, a roofline that from outside the structure, appears entirely original. From the bluff trail where the addition is visible, there is no discernible seam. Inside, the kitchen is now open to the living and dining rooms without interruption. A large sliding glass door connects the space onto the rear deck. The deck itself was expanded and oriented so that the body of the house shields it from the coastal wind which is a common consideration that determines whether outdoor space at The Sea Ranch actually gets used. The result is a room that works for large family gatherings where no one feels cutoff, and one that makes the boundary between being inside and outside easy to ignore. Welcoming Light A structural column stood at the convergence of eight distinct roof planes in the entry. It was load-bearing, but it was also the reason the entry had always felt like a hallway rather than a welcoming arrival. With the structural engineer, a custom steel connector was designed to receive beams from six separate directions, redistributing the load through a single new continuous beam. The column was surgically removed. Three triangular skylights were then cut into the roof above, their shapes drawn from the existing geometry of the planes around them. The entry is now bright and open. The skylights feel native to the structure because they follow the logic already present in the roof. Two Suites, Two Views At opposite ends of the house, the two bedroom suites were each reconfigured, and each found a different way to introduce more of the landscape into the room. An addition to the primary suite extended the structure outward to create a wraparound plan with a loop from the bedroom through bath and closet that had not been possible before. The expansion opened a slot view from the tub and shower toward the ocean. The view is precise and private. The ocean view is present and deliberate. The rear bedroom absorbed an adjacent storage room to transform it into a full second suite with a vaulted ceiling, a large bathroom with a tub, a shower, and a sauna. A private fenced garden courtyard sits just beyond the glass bringing the outdoors inside. The tub was placed so that, looking past the courtyard and through the bedroom beyond, the ocean is visible at the far end. It is a long view and it makes the room feel larger and more settled than its footprint would suggest. Glass on Four Sides, Fire at the Center The main living and gathering room had always been caught between two competing facts: glass on four sides meant exceptional views but at The Sea Ranch, it also meant a cold room. A 360-degree cylindrical fireplace was added at the center on a raised stone base, providing radiant heat in every direction and giving the room a focal point around which a group naturally orients itself, whether that means two people at the end of the day or the whole family after dinner. Owners Who Picked Up the Tools The owner was not a passive client. they came with construction knowledge, specific ideas, and the desire to be an active part of the process, a dynamic that other architects may had found difficult, which Klopf Architecture accepted as an asset. They took it upon themselves to complete some of the work during construction, including the installation of a new radiant heating system beneath the floors. The radiant system added to the older and less-desirable forced-air setup. At The Sea Ranch, that change matters as the house sits close enough to the ocean and moving air competes with the sound of it, where radiant heat does not. Solar panels were added to the roof as part of the new system. Insulation was upgraded throughout the walls, roof, and crawl space. The house that had always had the right setting now holds warmth the way a house on the bluff should. They were also deeply involved in the design and selections throughout, and the finished house reflects both of them in ways that are specific rather than generic. The process took longer and moved through more iterations than a more arms-length relationship might have allowed. The result is more defined and personal because of it. The Landscape Holds Priority Every exterior decision was shaped by The Sea Ranch Design Standards, which require that buildings defer to the landscape around them rather than compete with it. Because this house sits on the bluff and is visible from the public trail, the additions faced a close review. Existing materials were matched. Geometries were resolved. The additions had to become indistinguishable from the original building. From the trail, the house reads exactly as it always has — low, cedar-clad, secondary to the meadow and the water. The setting holds priority. Inside, the house has been remade. Klopf Architecture Project Team: Geoff Campen and Trenton Jewett
Contractor: Shawn Bettega Construction
Photography: ©2025 Mariko Reed
Year Completed: 2023
Location: The Sea Ranch, CA

The client wanted patio space for a chair so she could relax in the sun when the mood struck. The only spot in the yard with any sun is near the fence gate. A full-range New York Bluestone patio was added using 30” x 30” slabs. These slabs are dry-set so leveling was a challenge.

Inspiration for a transitional kitchen remodel in Los Angeles

jason page
Example of a mid-sized trendy master gray tile and stone tile porcelain tile bathroom design in Austin with flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets, gray walls, a vessel sink and quartz countertops

Design: kbg Design / Build: John Fuchs Properties / Cabinetry: Schmitz Woodworks / Photography: Agnieszka Jakubowicz
Bathroom - coastal mosaic tile floor, beige floor, single-sink, exposed beam, vaulted ceiling and wood ceiling bathroom idea in San Francisco with flat-panel cabinets, light wood cabinets, blue walls, an undermount sink, white countertops and a floating vanity

Taylor Photo
Inspiration for a transitional dark wood floor and brown floor dining room remodel in Chicago with beige walls

Ciro Coelho Photography
Example of a trendy concrete patio design in Santa Barbara with a pergola and a fireplace

Living room - large transitional open concept light wood floor living room idea in Portland Maine with a standard fireplace and a stone fireplace

Builder: Pillar Homes www.pillarhomes.com
Example of a classic carpeted and beige floor living room design in Minneapolis with beige walls

Built for the Bluff, A Sea Ranch Home is Remade from the Inside Out The house had always been grounded, on an ocean bluff at The Sea Ranch. It sits unencumbered, adjacent to one of the most dramatic stretches of the Sonoma coast with protected commons meadow to the east, uninterrupted Pacific views to the west, and a bluff trail running alongside. What it lacked was the feeling of home, one that could hold up its own against the natural landscape. The owners are entrepreneurs with deep involvement across tech, real estate, and development and they know how things are built. The Sea Ranch house had been in their lives for years, a second residence and a place for family to gather. Built for a different time, it felt more compromising than comfortable. Sitting in a closed off nook, the kitchen fit one cook at a time and turned its back on the rest of the house. The entry was dim and compressed, divided by a structural column that presented itself at exactly the wrong moment. The primary suite was small relative to the view outside it. A large rear bedroom sat behind a lowered ceiling with a bathroom that had never been added. The house was certainly worth the trouble of doing it right. What followed was not one project but four, each with its own design challenge, each addressed over a period of time. Where the House Meets the Ocean The most complex piece of the project, in both structural and spatial terms, was the kitchen expansion. The existing room was a single-person galley squeezed in as an afterthought with no meaningful connection to the dining room, the living space, or the deck outside. To make it useful for a family that cooks and gathers, it needed to grow outward into an existing patio and flow into the rooms around it. A big challenge was the roofline. Several planes at different pitches and angles converged directly where additional volume was needed. A new form had to join that geometry without reading as a correction. The solution found the simplest possible connection between the existing angles, a roofline that from outside the structure, appears entirely original. From the bluff trail where the addition is visible, there is no discernible seam. Inside, the kitchen is now open to the living and dining rooms without interruption. A large sliding glass door connects the space onto the rear deck. The deck itself was expanded and oriented so that the body of the house shields it from the coastal wind which is a common consideration that determines whether outdoor space at The Sea Ranch actually gets used. The result is a room that works for large family gatherings where no one feels cutoff, and one that makes the boundary between being inside and outside easy to ignore. Welcoming Light A structural column stood at the convergence of eight distinct roof planes in the entry. It was load-bearing, but it was also the reason the entry had always felt like a hallway rather than a welcoming arrival. With the structural engineer, a custom steel connector was designed to receive beams from six separate directions, redistributing the load through a single new continuous beam. The column was surgically removed. Three triangular skylights were then cut into the roof above, their shapes drawn from the existing geometry of the planes around them. The entry is now bright and open. The skylights feel native to the structure because they follow the logic already present in the roof. Two Suites, Two Views At opposite ends of the house, the two bedroom suites were each reconfigured, and each found a different way to introduce more of the landscape into the room. An addition to the primary suite extended the structure outward to create a wraparound plan with a loop from the bedroom through bath and closet that had not been possible before. The expansion opened a slot view from the tub and shower toward the ocean. The view is precise and private. The ocean view is present and deliberate. The rear bedroom absorbed an adjacent storage room to transform it into a full second suite with a vaulted ceiling, a large bathroom with a tub, a shower, and a sauna. A private fenced garden courtyard sits just beyond the glass bringing the outdoors inside. The tub was placed so that, looking past the courtyard and through the bedroom beyond, the ocean is visible at the far end. It is a long view and it makes the room feel larger and more settled than its footprint would suggest. Glass on Four Sides, Fire at the Center The main living and gathering room had always been caught between two competing facts: glass on four sides meant exceptional views but at The Sea Ranch, it also meant a cold room. A 360-degree cylindrical fireplace was added at the center on a raised stone base, providing radiant heat in every direction and giving the room a focal point around which a group naturally orients itself, whether that means two people at the end of the day or the whole family after dinner. Owners Who Picked Up the Tools The owner was not a passive client. they came with construction knowledge, specific ideas, and the desire to be an active part of the process, a dynamic that other architects may had found difficult, which Klopf Architecture accepted as an asset. They took it upon themselves to complete some of the work during construction, including the installation of a new radiant heating system beneath the floors. The radiant system added to the older and less-desirable forced-air setup. At The Sea Ranch, that change matters as the house sits close enough to the ocean and moving air competes with the sound of it, where radiant heat does not. Solar panels were added to the roof as part of the new system. Insulation was upgraded throughout the walls, roof, and crawl space. The house that had always had the right setting now holds warmth the way a house on the bluff should. They were also deeply involved in the design and selections throughout, and the finished house reflects both of them in ways that are specific rather than generic. The process took longer and moved through more iterations than a more arms-length relationship might have allowed. The result is more defined and personal because of it. The Landscape Holds Priority Every exterior decision was shaped by The Sea Ranch Design Standards, which require that buildings defer to the landscape around them rather than compete with it. Because this house sits on the bluff and is visible from the public trail, the additions faced a close review. Existing materials were matched. Geometries were resolved. The additions had to become indistinguishable from the original building. From the trail, the house reads exactly as it always has — low, cedar-clad, secondary to the meadow and the water. The setting holds priority. Inside, the house has been remade. Klopf Architecture Project Team: Geoff Campen and Trenton Jewett
Contractor: Shawn Bettega Construction
Photography: ©2025 Mariko Reed
Year Completed: 2023
Location: The Sea Ranch, CA

Built for the Bluff, A Sea Ranch Home is Remade from the Inside Out The house had always been grounded, on an ocean bluff at The Sea Ranch. It sits unencumbered, adjacent to one of the most dramatic stretches of the Sonoma coast with protected commons meadow to the east, uninterrupted Pacific views to the west, and a bluff trail running alongside. What it lacked was the feeling of home, one that could hold up its own against the natural landscape. The owners are entrepreneurs with deep involvement across tech, real estate, and development and they know how things are built. The Sea Ranch house had been in their lives for years, a second residence and a place for family to gather. Built for a different time, it felt more compromising than comfortable. Sitting in a closed off nook, the kitchen fit one cook at a time and turned its back on the rest of the house. The entry was dim and compressed, divided by a structural column that presented itself at exactly the wrong moment. The primary suite was small relative to the view outside it. A large rear bedroom sat behind a lowered ceiling with a bathroom that had never been added. The house was certainly worth the trouble of doing it right. What followed was not one project but four, each with its own design challenge, each addressed over a period of time. Where the House Meets the Ocean The most complex piece of the project, in both structural and spatial terms, was the kitchen expansion. The existing room was a single-person galley squeezed in as an afterthought with no meaningful connection to the dining room, the living space, or the deck outside. To make it useful for a family that cooks and gathers, it needed to grow outward into an existing patio and flow into the rooms around it. A big challenge was the roofline. Several planes at different pitches and angles converged directly where additional volume was needed. A new form had to join that geometry without reading as a correction. The solution found the simplest possible connection between the existing angles, a roofline that from outside the structure, appears entirely original. From the bluff trail where the addition is visible, there is no discernible seam. Inside, the kitchen is now open to the living and dining rooms without interruption. A large sliding glass door connects the space onto the rear deck. The deck itself was expanded and oriented so that the body of the house shields it from the coastal wind which is a common consideration that determines whether outdoor space at The Sea Ranch actually gets used. The result is a room that works for large family gatherings where no one feels cutoff, and one that makes the boundary between being inside and outside easy to ignore. Welcoming Light A structural column stood at the convergence of eight distinct roof planes in the entry. It was load-bearing, but it was also the reason the entry had always felt like a hallway rather than a welcoming arrival. With the structural engineer, a custom steel connector was designed to receive beams from six separate directions, redistributing the load through a single new continuous beam. The column was surgically removed. Three triangular skylights were then cut into the roof above, their shapes drawn from the existing geometry of the planes around them. The entry is now bright and open. The skylights feel native to the structure because they follow the logic already present in the roof. Two Suites, Two Views At opposite ends of the house, the two bedroom suites were each reconfigured, and each found a different way to introduce more of the landscape into the room. An addition to the primary suite extended the structure outward to create a wraparound plan with a loop from the bedroom through bath and closet that had not been possible before. The expansion opened a slot view from the tub and shower toward the ocean. The view is precise and private. The ocean view is present and deliberate. The rear bedroom absorbed an adjacent storage room to transform it into a full second suite with a vaulted ceiling, a large bathroom with a tub, a shower, and a sauna. A private fenced garden courtyard sits just beyond the glass bringing the outdoors inside. The tub was placed so that, looking past the courtyard and through the bedroom beyond, the ocean is visible at the far end. It is a long view and it makes the room feel larger and more settled than its footprint would suggest. Glass on Four Sides, Fire at the Center The main living and gathering room had always been caught between two competing facts: glass on four sides meant exceptional views but at The Sea Ranch, it also meant a cold room. A 360-degree cylindrical fireplace was added at the center on a raised stone base, providing radiant heat in every direction and giving the room a focal point around which a group naturally orients itself, whether that means two people at the end of the day or the whole family after dinner. Owners Who Picked Up the Tools The owner was not a passive client. they came with construction knowledge, specific ideas, and the desire to be an active part of the process, a dynamic that other architects may had found difficult, which Klopf Architecture accepted as an asset. They took it upon themselves to complete some of the work during construction, including the installation of a new radiant heating system beneath the floors. The radiant system added to the older and less-desirable forced-air setup. At The Sea Ranch, that change matters as the house sits close enough to the ocean and moving air competes with the sound of it, where radiant heat does not. Solar panels were added to the roof as part of the new system. Insulation was upgraded throughout the walls, roof, and crawl space. The house that had always had the right setting now holds warmth the way a house on the bluff should. They were also deeply involved in the design and selections throughout, and the finished house reflects both of them in ways that are specific rather than generic. The process took longer and moved through more iterations than a more arms-length relationship might have allowed. The result is more defined and personal because of it. The Landscape Holds Priority Every exterior decision was shaped by The Sea Ranch Design Standards, which require that buildings defer to the landscape around them rather than compete with it. Because this house sits on the bluff and is visible from the public trail, the additions faced a close review. Existing materials were matched. Geometries were resolved. The additions had to become indistinguishable from the original building. From the trail, the house reads exactly as it always has — low, cedar-clad, secondary to the meadow and the water. The setting holds priority. Inside, the house has been remade. Klopf Architecture Project Team: Geoff Campen and Trenton Jewett
Contractor: Shawn Bettega Construction
Photography: ©2025 Mariko Reed
Year Completed: 2023
Location: The Sea Ranch, CA

One homeowner of a particular model home in the Sun City Roseville development that came with a rather large space for a laundry room, was faced with this dilemma recently. After relocating her washer and dryer into the garage and setting up a make shift office of her own in the laundry room, the homeowner realized that, although she succeeded in turning the space into a somewhat functional work area, it just wasn’t up to par for all of her wants and needs. Hoping to come up some new small home office ideas that would squeeze all of her needs into the tiny space, she decided to seek help from a home organization specialist and sat down with The Closet Doctor. There were several requirements and obstacles that made the development of an office design which satisfied the homeowner particularly difficult. One was the need for two workstations which would have enough desk space for each person to sit comfortably and not be on top of each other. Another obstacle was the new design had to work around a cut-out in the corner of the wall, which contained built-in shelves for the components of a nearby entertainment center. Finally, the designer also had to be sure to incorporate “lots of legal sized filing drawers” into its new design. The Closet Doctor went to work and was able to design a solution that, not only met all of the homeowner’s needs, but was attractive, and within her budget. The new built-in design included two work areas that were spacious and each with its own overhead cabinet, storage drawer, and single letter size file drawer for active projects. In between the two overhead cabinets, additional open shelving allowed for display items as well as space for a small TV in the center. Extra storage and organization space was also put behind doors for a clean and neat look. In addition, in order to maintain as much space as possible, the cabinets on the end and left side wall were made just deep enough to fit legal size lateral file drawers. Finally, the built in component shelves were left open in the corner for easy access, with the desk top passing in front of the space at the same height as one of the shelves, which gave the corner a neat and organized appearance as well. To top it off, low energy under cabinet LED lights with a dimmer switch were installed in order to illuminate the work area. The Client loved the result of her home improvement project, in both the look and functionality of the new design compared to the “temporary setup” she had in place before. With the additional storage space and organization that the new built in office unit provided, the satisfied homeowner was able to achieve the clean and organized look as well as optimum functionality that she preferred.

One homeowner of a particular model home in the Sun City Roseville development that came with a rather large space for a laundry room, was faced with this dilemma recently. After relocating her washer and dryer into the garage and setting up a make shift office of her own in the laundry room, the homeowner realized that, although she succeeded in turning the space into a somewhat functional work area, it just wasn’t up to par for all of her wants and needs. Hoping to come up some new small home office ideas that would squeeze all of her needs into the tiny space, she decided to seek help from a home organization specialist and sat down with The Closet Doctor. There were several requirements and obstacles that made the development of an office design which satisfied the homeowner particularly difficult. One was the need for two workstations which would have enough desk space for each person to sit comfortably and not be on top of each other. Another obstacle was the new design had to work around a cut-out in the corner of the wall, which contained built-in shelves for the components of a nearby entertainment center. Finally, the designer also had to be sure to incorporate “lots of legal sized filing drawers” into its new design. The Closet Doctor went to work and was able to design a solution that, not only met all of the homeowner’s needs, but was attractive, and within her budget. The new built-in design included two work areas that were spacious and each with its own overhead cabinet, storage drawer, and single letter size file drawer for active projects. In between the two overhead cabinets, additional open shelving allowed for display items as well as space for a small TV in the center. Extra storage and organization space was also put behind doors for a clean and neat look. In addition, in order to maintain as much space as possible, the cabinets on the end and left side wall were made just deep enough to fit legal size lateral file drawers. Finally, the built in component shelves were left open in the corner for easy access, with the desk top passing in front of the space at the same height as one of the shelves, which gave the corner a neat and organized appearance as well. To top it off, low energy under cabinet LED lights with a dimmer switch were installed in order to illuminate the work area. The Client loved the result of her home improvement project, in both the look and functionality of the new design compared to the “temporary setup” she had in place before. With the additional storage space and organization that the new built in office unit provided, the satisfied homeowner was able to achieve the clean and organized look as well as optimum functionality that she preferred.