This early 1900's Sears, Roebuck and Co. kit house embodied charm, but the spaces needed to be expanded and modernized. We added an attached garage, new master suite, new stairwell and reconfigured the existing first floor to accommodate a new kitchen, living spaces and 'hidden' powder room.

Photo: Carolyn Reyes © 2015 Houzz
Trendy kids' room photo in Los Angeles

Our kitchen is in the perfect harmony of blue and white.
Kitchen - farmhouse kitchen idea in DC Metro

Photo: Lucy Call © 2015 Houzz
Example of a living room design in Salt Lake City

"Brandon Stengel - www.farmkidstudios.com”
Mid-sized trendy l-shaped medium tone wood floor eat-in kitchen photo in Minneapolis with a farmhouse sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, white backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island, solid surface countertops and subway tile backsplash

Hallway - large contemporary marble floor hallway idea in Ahmedabad

The rear of the house accommodates a cantilevered second floor balcony, raised deck, patio, and pool. Multiple places to sit. Adirondack chairs with fire pit face the pool below the raised rear deck.

Photos by Francis and Francis Photography The Anderson Residence is ‘practically’ a new home in one of Las Vegas midcentury modern neighborhoods McNeil. The house is the current home of Ian Anderson the local Herman Miller dealer and Shanna Anderson of Leeland furniture family. When Ian first introduced CSPA studio to the project it was burned down house. Turns out that the house is a 1960 midcentury modern sister of two homes that was destroyed by arson in a dispute between landlord and tenant. Once inside the burned walls it was quite clear what a wonderful house it once was. Great care was taken to try and restore the house to a similar splendor. The reality is the remodel didn’t involve much of the original house, by the time the fire damage was remediated there wasn’t much left. The renovation includes an additional 1000 SF of office, guest bedroom, laundry, mudroom, guest toilet outdoor shower and a garage. The roof line was raised in order to accommodate a forced air mechanical system, but care was taken to keep the lines long and low (appearing) to match the midcentury modern style. The House is an H-shape. Typically houses of this time period would have small rooms with long narrow hallways. However in this case with the walls burned out one can see from one side of the house to other creating a huge feeling space. It was decided to totally open the East side of the house and make the kitchen which gently spills into the living room and wood burning fireplace the public side. New windows and a huge 16’ sliding door were added all the way around the courtyard so that one can see out and across into the private side. On the west side of the house the long thin hallway is opened up by the windows to the courtyard and the long wall offers an opportunity for a gallery style art display. The long hallway opens to two bedrooms, shared bathroom and master bedroom. The end of the hallway opens to a casual living room and the swimming pool area. The house has no formal dining room but a 15’ custom crafted table by Ian’s sculptor father that is an extension of the kitchen island. The H-shape creates two covered areas, one is the front entry courtyard, fenced in by a Brazilian walnut enclosure and crowned by a steel art installation by Ian’s father. The rear covered courtyard is a breezy spot for chilling out on a hot desert day. The pool was re-finished and a shallow soaking deck added. A new barbeque and covered patio added. Some of the large plant material was salvaged and nursed back to health and a complete new desert landscape was re-installed to bring the exterior to life.

Location: Situated on Bunurong country near the town of Sorrento, the site was uniquely positioned between the back beach and the footy oval. The broad wedge-shaped site featured a steep vegetated dune climbing 6 meters to the rear and remnant coastal Moonah trees at the front, providing a distinctive natural context. Design Brief: The objective was to create an enduring 4-bedroom holiday house that harmonized with its coastal environment. The design was intended to be both stylish and robust, offering high amenity and serviceability. This house was envisioned as a long-term investment, serving the dual purpose of accommodating a growing family and functioning as a part-time rental property. Architectural Features: Contextual Integration: The architectural response meticulously respected and enhanced the site's natural features, seamlessly integrating the vegetated dune and preserving the Moonah trees within the landscape strategy. Materiality and Aesthetics: The material palette was selected for its durability and ability to withstand the harsh coastal conditions while maintaining a refined and stylish appearance. This included the use of resilient, high-quality materials that age gracefully over time. Spatial Versatility: The spatial configuration was designed to adapt to the evolving needs of a growing family and the demands of a rental property. Flexible spaces were created to provide a balance between communal living areas and private retreats. Indoor-Outdoor Connectivity: Emphasizing seamless indoor-outdoor connections, the design featured expansive glazing, outdoor terraces, and integrated landscaping to blur the boundaries between interior and exterior spaces. High Amenity and Comfort: The house boasted a laminate black-butt chef's kitchen, stone and tile surfaces, and state-of-the-art climate control systems, including integrated heating and cooling, to ensure year-round comfort and ease of maintenance. The architectural vision aimed to create a timeless residence that would serve as a cherished family retreat and a sought-after rental property, responding elegantly to its coastal context and the demands of modern living.

Patrick Reynolds
Inspiration for a contemporary blue two-story wood gable roof remodel in Auckland

It is a contemporary ‘farm style compound’ with the main house accommodated in a ‘barn’ structure, the garages & workshops (steel- & woodworking workshops for the tinkering owner) in adjoining ‘sheds’ and the entrance & staircase housed in a semi-klinker ‘silo’ structure. A lap pool to the North of the barn act as a passive cooling device in summer, by cooling the warm summer winds from the North-East down through the evaporation of the pool water, and drawing the hot air from the ‘barn’ through large apertures facing the pool to the North & the pasture to the South. Triangular windows in the gables can be opened to draw out further hot air rising to the ceiling level inside the house. Proper insulation materials & methods for the roof, walls & floors, together with double glazing results in a cosy & warm interior. The lap pool is also an analogy of a drinking trough for the cows which used to roam the land and found on the farm before it was developed, hankering to its past, but off course also is just a swimming pool, in which the kids can play or train in for swimming galas. This house is designed to self-sufficient and ‘off-the-grid’ in the end, through the incorporation of many ideas & systems. Sustainable elements include items like a rain water harvesting system with galvanized tanks on the outside in feeling with the farm style vernacular, grey water recycling for garden irrigation, solar water heating- & photo voltaic (electricity generation) on the roof, the use of recycled materials obtained from demolished buildings & bridges at the time, and low-water-low maintenance gardens, indigenous to the area.

Our take on the Modern Farmhouse!
Example of a large cottage white two-story concrete fiberboard exterior home design in Calgary

Gary McKinstry
Example of a trendy beige tile beige floor bathroom design in Vancouver with an undermount sink, flat-panel cabinets, beige walls and medium tone wood cabinets

Attractive living as an architectural experiment: a 136-year-old water tower, a listed building with a spectacular 360-degree panorama view over the City of London. The task, to transform it into a superior residence, initially seemed an absolute impossibility. But when the owners came across architect Mike Collier, they had found a partner who was to make the impossible possible. The tower, which had been empty for decades, underwent radical renovation work and was extended by a four-storey cube containing kitchen, dining and living room - connected by glazed tunnels and a lift shaft. The kitchen, realised by Enclosure Interiors in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, with furniture from LEICHT is the very heart of living in this new building. Shiny white matt-lacquered kitchen fronts (AVANCE-LR), tone-on-tone with the worktops, reflect the light in the room and thus create expanse and openness. The surface of the handle-less kitchen fronts has a horizontal relief embossing; depending on the light incidence, this results in a vitally structured surface. The free-standing preparation isle with its vertical side panels with a seamlessly integrated sink represents the transition between kitchen and living room. The fronts of the floor units facing the dining table were extended to the floor to do away with the plinth typical of most kitchens. Ceiling-high tall units on the wall provide plenty of storage space; the electrical appliances are integrated here invisible to the eye. Floor units on a high plinth which thus appear to be floating form the actual cooking centre within the kitchen, attached to the wall. A range of handle-less wall units concludes the glazed niche at the top. LEICHT international: “Architecture and kitchen” in the centre of London. www.LeichtUSA.com

Example of a trendy wooden u-shaped open staircase design in Ahmedabad

Architecture: One SEED Architecture + Interiors (www.oneseed.ca) Photo: Martin Knowles Photo Media Builder: Vertical Grain Projects Multigenerational Vancouver Special Reno #MGvancouverspecial Vancouver, BC Previous Project Next Project 2 780 SF Interior and Exterior Renovation We are very excited about the conversion of this Vancouver Special in East Van’s Renfrew-Collingwood area, zoned RS-1, into a contemporary multigenerational home. It will incorporate two generations immediately, with separate suites for the home owners and their parents, and will be flexible enough to accommodate the next generation as well, when the owners have children of their own. During the design process we addressed the needs of each group and took special care that each suite was designed with lots of light, high ceilings, and large rooms.

Within a relatively compact living room, a variety of activities are accommodated by a uniquely curved upholstered seat that lines three walls - its depth varies to allow for: conversations, music listening, lounging, reading, napping, etc.

Example of a mid-sized danish master light wood floor bedroom design in London with white walls and no fireplace

This project involves the renovation of, and additions to, a small guest house that is part of a larger residential compound. Originally designed by Fernau + Hartman Architects, this widely-published compound was completed in 1998 and is comprised of 22 different volumes within 7,800 square feet. The assemblage, containing a main house, guest house, and pool house, was commissioned by Gaston Caperton, the governor of West Virginia at that time. The main house served as a primary residence, a gallery of West Virginia art, and a rural retreat for friends, family, and colleagues visiting from Washington D.C. and New York City. It was an architectural icon designed for entertaining. Our clients are the second owners of the house and lifelong friends of the former governor. After living in the main house for 15 years, our clients wanted to make changes that would allow them to age in place on the property. The house’s 13 different levels made it physically challenging for them to continue living there safely. The goal of the project was to address the physical and perceptual challenges of aging in place, all while preserving and honoring the original design. The renovations and additions to the guest house created an accessible, one-bedroom house that accommodates the couple’s mobility, cognitive, vision, and balance challenges. Now that our clients have moved into the guest house, their son and his family will move into the main house.