Benny Chan
Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary brown two-story metal exterior home remodel in Los Angeles

The home owner desired a home that would grace their Arcadia neighborhood in a subtle manner and echo the original ranch homes of the area. To achieve this desire, they drew on architectural influences from both Ranch Hacienda and Rural Mediterranean. Ranch Hacienda architecture is reflective of historical ranch heritage from rural Arizona and traditional Spanish Hacienda style homes. It is defined by the prominent use of two primary building materials: stone and exterior plaster. This style projects casual informality, characterized by the use of traditional clay tile roofs, timbers, and exposed rafter tails. Informal and asymmetrical rectilinear forms characterize the Rural Mediterranean style, while gable shed roofs create a charming country appearance similar to those in old world vineyards. The primary façade and entry create a friendly and inviting atmosphere. By positioning the home’s long axis perpendicular to the street, the main room is exposed to dramatic views of the Camelback Mountain and, as well, protected from direct sun exposure. Thus, the north courtyard presents direct views of Camelback and offers a very comfortable gathering place for residents and guests to enjoy their favorite glass of wine, during delightful conversation.

©️Maxwell MacKenzie Slate countertops and wood hood are features in the kitchen. THE HOME, ESSENTIALLY A RUIN WAS PRESERVED THROUGH NEGLECT. A CLARIFIED HISTORIC RENOVATION REMOVES BAY WINDOWS AND 1950’S WINDOWS FROM THE MAIN FAÇADE. TWO WINGS AND A THIRD FLOOR AND A SYMPATHETIC STAIRWAY ACCOMMODATE MODERN LIFE. MASONS WERE TASKED TO MAKE THE STONE WORK LOOK AS THOUGH “A FARMER BUILT THE WALLS DURING THE NON-PLANTING SEASON,” THE FINAL DESIGN SIMPLIFIES THE FIRST FLOOR PLAN AND LEAVES LOGICAL LOCATIONS FOR EXPANSION INTO COMING DECADES. AMONG OTHER AWARDS, THIS TRADITIONAL YET HISTORIC RENOVATION LOCATED IN MIDDLEBURG, VA HAS RECEIVED 2 AWARDS FROM THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTURE.. AND A NATIONAL PRIVATE AWARD FROM VETTE WINDOWS WASHINGTON DC ARCHITECT DONALD LOCOCO UPDATED THIS HISTORIC STONE HOUSE IN MIDDLEBURG, VA.lauded by the American Institute of Architects with an Award of Excellence for Historic Architecture, as well as an Award of Merit for Residential Architecture

Traditional beige three-story flat roof idea in Chicago

This Washington Park Residence sits on a bluff with easterly views of Lake Washington and the Cascades beyond. The house has a restrained presence on the street side and opens to the views with floor to ceiling windows looking east. A limited palette of concrete, steel, wood and stone create a serenity in the home and on its terraces. The house features a ground source heat pump system for cooling and a green roof to manage storm water runoff. Photo by Aaron Leitz

Looking at this home today, you would never know that the project began as a poorly maintained duplex. Luckily, the homeowners saw past the worn façade and engaged our team to uncover and update the Victorian gem that lay underneath. Taking special care to preserve the historical integrity of the 100-year-old floor plan, we returned the home back to its original glory as a grand, single family home. The project included many renovations, both small and large, including the addition of a a wraparound porch to bring the façade closer to the street, a gable with custom scrollwork to accent the new front door, and a more substantial balustrade. Windows were added to bring in more light and some interior walls were removed to open up the public spaces to accommodate the family’s lifestyle. You can read more about the transformation of this home in Old House Journal: http://www.cummingsarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Old-House-Journal-Dec.-2009.pdf Photo Credit: Eric Roth

The view of the front façade of the guest cottage.
This is an example of a farmhouse landscaping in Philadelphia for summer.

Featuring a classic H-shaped plan and minimalist details, the Winston was designed with the modern family in mind. This home carefully balances a sleek and uniform façade with more contemporary elements. This balance is noticed best when looking at the home on axis with the front or rear doors. Simple lap siding serve as a backdrop to the careful arrangement of windows and outdoor spaces. Stepping through a pair of natural wood entry doors gives way to sweeping vistas through the living and dining rooms. Anchoring the left side of the main level, and on axis with the living room, is a large white kitchen island and tiled range surround. To the right, and behind the living rooms sleek fireplace, is a vertical corridor that grants access to the upper level bedrooms, main level master suite, and lower level spaces. Serving as backdrop to this vertical corridor is a floor to ceiling glass display room for a sizeable wine collection. Set three steps down from the living room and through an articulating glass wall, the screened porch is enclosed by a retractable screen system that allows the room to be heated during cold nights. In all rooms, preferential treatment is given to maximize exposure to the rear yard, making this a perfect lakefront home.

Mid-century modern flat roof idea in Minneapolis

Farmhouse white two-story gable roof idea in Minneapolis

This six-bedroom home — all with en-suite bathrooms — is a brand new home on one of Lincoln Park's most desirable streets. The neo-Georgian, brick and limestone façade features well-crafted detailing both inside and out. The lower recreation level is expansive, with 9-foot ceilings throughout. The first floor houses elegant living and dining areas, as well as a large kitchen with attached great room, and the second floor holds an expansive master suite with a spa bath and vast walk-in closets. A grand, elliptical staircase ascends throughout the home, concluding in a sunlit penthouse providing access to an expansive roof deck and sweeping views of the city.. Nathan Kirkman

Lisa Petrole
Inspiration for a contemporary bathroom remodel in San Francisco with an undermount sink, flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets and white walls

This six-bedroom home — all with en-suite bathrooms — is a brand new home on one of Lincoln Park's most desirable streets. The neo-Georgian, brick and limestone façade features well-crafted detailing both inside and out. The lower recreation level is expansive, with 9-foot ceilings throughout. The first floor houses elegant living and dining areas, as well as a large kitchen with attached great room, and the second floor holds an expansive master suite with a spa bath and vast walk-in closets. A grand, elliptical staircase ascends throughout the home, concluding in a sunlit penthouse providing access to an expansive roof deck and sweeping views of the city.. Nathan Kirkman

Example of a transitional front door design in San Diego with a glass front door

Joe Fletcher Atop a ridge in the Santa Lucia mountains of Carmel, California, an oak tree stands elevated above the fog and wrapped at its base in this ranch retreat. The weekend home’s design grew around the 100-year-old Valley Oak to form a horseshoe-shaped house that gathers ridgeline views of Oak, Madrone, and Redwood groves at its exterior and nestles around the tree at its center. The home’s orientation offers both the shade of the oak canopy in the courtyard and the sun flowing into the great room at the house’s rear façades. This modern take on a traditional ranch home offers contemporary materials and landscaping to a classic typology. From the main entry in the courtyard, one enters the home’s great room and immediately experiences the dramatic westward views across the 70 foot pool at the house’s rear. In this expansive public area, programmatic needs flow and connect - from the kitchen, whose windows face the courtyard, to the dining room, whose doors slide seamlessly into walls to create an outdoor dining pavilion. The primary circulation axes flank the internal courtyard, anchoring the house to its site and heightening the sense of scale by extending views outward at each of the corridor’s ends. Guest suites, complete with private kitchen and living room, and the garage are housed in auxiliary wings connected to the main house by covered walkways. Building materials including pre-weathered corrugated steel cladding, buff limestone walls, and large aluminum apertures, and the interior palette of cedar-clad ceilings, oil-rubbed steel, and exposed concrete floors soften the modern aesthetics into a refined but rugged ranch home.

The five bay main block of the façade features a pedimented center bay. Finely detailed dormers with arch top windows sit on a graduated slate roof, anchored by limestone topped chimneys.

A typical post-1906 Noe Valley house is simultaneously restored, expanded and redesigned to keep what works and rethink what doesn’t. The front façade, is scraped and painted a crisp monochrome white—it worked. The new asymmetrical gabled rear addition takes the place of a windowless dead end box that didn’t. A “Great kitchen”, open yet formally defined living and dining rooms, a generous master suite, and kid’s rooms with nooks and crannies, all make for a newly designed house that straddles old and new. Structural Engineer: Gregory Paul Wallace SE General Contractor: Cardea Building Co. Interior Design: Ken Fulk Photographer: Open Homes Photography

Piston Design
Front door - mediterranean front door idea in Houston with a glass front door

Athos Burez
Example of a mid-sized trendy medium tone wood floor great room design in Paris with white walls and no fireplace