It was important not to interrupt the dynamic of this home's historic Church Hill neighborhood, and so all the exterior changes were kept to the back of the house, with the front remaining mostly unchanged. Although the front of the house doesn’t give away its secrets, the back of the house is an unexpected but delightful surprise. Embracing the new rear addition is the home’s original brick wall. Architectural design as well as Commission of Architectural Review requirements put a lot of emphasis on keeping the original masonry intact, which was no small feat. It took a lot of planning, some delicate demolition and talented carpentry to ensure this piece of history remained. In addition to the brick wall, other original aspects of the home were carefully preserved including the windows, floors and much of the trim work. Meanwhile all new, modern plumbing and fixtures were installed and custom cabinetry with inset routed “handles” were fabricated by Polosko Woodworks. Inside the home is even more appreciation of the original masonry with exposed brick walls in the primary bath.

It was important not to interrupt the dynamic of this home's historic Church Hill neighborhood, and so all the exterior changes were kept to the back of the house, with the front remaining mostly unchanged. Although the front of the house doesn’t give away its secrets, the back of the house is an unexpected but delightful surprise. Embracing the new rear addition is the home’s original brick wall. Architectural design as well as Commission of Architectural Review requirements put a lot of emphasis on keeping the original masonry intact, which was no small feat. It took a lot of planning, some delicate demolition and talented carpentry to ensure this piece of history remained. In addition to the brick wall, other original aspects of the home were carefully preserved including the windows, floors and much of the trim work. Meanwhile all new, modern plumbing and fixtures were installed and custom cabinetry with inset routed “handles” were fabricated by Polosko Woodworks. Inside the home is even more appreciation of the original masonry with exposed brick walls in the primary bath.

Close up of hipped dormer and chimney flashing on an architectural asphalt roof replacement project. For this expansive and historic Connecticut summer residence, we specified GAF Camelot II laminated architectural asphalt shingles in Antique Slate to replicate the look of a traditional slate roof (but at 10 percent of the weight). This installation featured many protrusions, ridges, and valleys which had to be navigated. While our work was interrupted by an unforecast last season gale storm, we were able to get this job done in the span of five working days.

Front view of an expansive and historic Connecticut summer residence where we specified GAF Camelot II laminated architectural asphalt shingles in Antique Slate to replicate the look of a traditional slate roof (but at 10 percent of the weight). This installation featured many protrusions, ridges, and valleys which had to be navigated. While our work was interrupted by an unforecast last season gale storm, we were able to get this job done in the span of five working days.

It was important not to interrupt the dynamic of this home's historic Church Hill neighborhood, and so all the exterior changes were kept to the back of the house, with the front remaining mostly unchanged. Although the front of the house doesn’t give away its secrets, the back of the house is an unexpected but delightful surprise. Embracing the new rear addition is the home’s original brick wall. Architectural design as well as Commission of Architectural Review requirements put a lot of emphasis on keeping the original masonry intact, which was no small feat. It took a lot of planning, some delicate demolition and talented carpentry to ensure this piece of history remained. In addition to the brick wall, other original aspects of the home were carefully preserved including the windows, floors and much of the trim work. Meanwhile all new, modern plumbing and fixtures were installed and custom cabinetry with inset routed “handles” were fabricated by Polosko Woodworks. Inside the home is even more appreciation of the original masonry with exposed brick walls in the primary bath.

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

This is where the material choice for the wet room is most legible. Porcelain tile in a deep emerald green is installed in a vertical stacked pattern across both walls, floor to ceiling. The glaze on each piece carries its own variation in tone and reflectivity, which means the wall reads differently depending on the time of day and where the light is coming from. Porcelain was the right material choice for a wet room application specifically because of its density and very low porosity, making it more resistant to moisture absorption than ceramic over the long term. The white painted niches built into both walls provide functional storage while creating a sharp contrast that lets the tile color do its work without interruption. The white freestanding tub and white ceiling carry that same contrast through the rest of the wet room.

Close up of a series of hipped dormers and chimney flashing on an architectural asphalt roof replacement project. For this expansive and historic Connecticut summer residence, we specified GAF Camelot II laminated architectural asphalt shingles in Antique Slate to replicate the look of a traditional slate roof (but at 10 percent of the weight). This installation featured many protrusions, ridges, and valleys which had to be navigated. While our work was interrupted by an unforecast last season gale storm, we were able to get this job done in the span of five working days.

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

A complete primary bathroom remodel in Springfield, Virginia, designed around three priorities our clients came in with: a real walk-in shower, a freestanding tub by the windows, and a proper double vanity with storage that actually worked. The original layout had everything in the wrong place. The tub sat against an interior wall away from the natural light. A small stall shower took up real estate across the room. The vanity was squeezed into whatever space was left over. Three windows on the back wall were doing nothing for the room because the layout was fighting them. Our solution involved knocking down the dividing wall between the old shower and vanity area, relocating plumbing for both the tub and the new vanities, and placing the freestanding tub directly under the bay of windows so morning light became part of the experience. Design Approach We anchored the room around contrast: deep navy cabinetry against soft white walls, warm brushed gold against cool marble tile, sharp Shaker lines against the curved silhouette of the freestanding tub. Navy was the design decision the rest of the room was built around — the clients knew they wanted color but didn't want anything that would feel dated in five years. Navy reads bold without being loud, pairs with virtually any metal finish, and has staying power that trendier choices don't. We used Fabuwood Galaxy Indigo for the vanities — all-plywood construction with solid wood doors and drawer fronts, soft close throughout. Shaker-style flat panels keep the navy from feeling heavy. The brushed gold (Jeffrey Alexander 635-96SBZ in satin bronze) shows up across hardware, faucets, lighting, the tub filler, and the shower trim, creating a quiet continuity throughout the room. The Shower Removing the wall between the old shower and old vanity area created room for a proper walk-in. We tiled the entire shower floor to ceiling in Decovita Calacatta Suave 24x48" porcelain — large format installed in a 50% offset horizontal pattern, with cement board and redgard underneath. The marble-look porcelain gives the visual depth of natural marble without the maintenance. A built-in shower bench, custom-built into the corner, is wrapped in the same wall tile on the front with a quartz top matching the vanity counter. The shower niche is detailed with MSI Arabescato Carrara 2" honed hex mosaic at the back, the same tile used on the shower floor. All tile edges are finished with Schluter in satin bronze to match the room's metal finishes. The shower door is custom frameless 3/8" tempered glass with a satin bronze pull — no metal frame interrupting the sight line. The Vanities and Countertops The new double vanity gives both clients their own space for morning routines. Counter tops are MSI Calacatta Miraggio Cielo quartz with pencil edging and a 4" backsplash — a soft white with subtle gray veining that reads like real Calacatta marble without the porosity issues. Two undermount square porcelain sinks finish the surface cleanly. The Tub A 60" freestanding soaker tub sits under the bay of three windows. The floor-mounted tub filler is satin bronze with a handheld sprayer. We relocated the drain and supply lines to make the centered placement work. The tub is the room's quietest feature and its strongest — clients tell us they use this bathroom differently than they used the old one. Flooring MSI Sande Ivory 12x24" matte porcelain runs throughout the bathroom floor in a 50% offset pattern parallel to the vanity wall. Cement board underneath, 4" white wood baseboard, Whisper Grey grout that handles daily use without showing wear. Paint and Lighting Walls are Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace 2121-70 in satin — a true crisp white that doesn't lean cool or warm. The ceiling uses Benjamin Moore Aura Bath and Spa White, which is formulated to resist mildew in high-humidity spaces. Lighting is layered: three new 6" LED recessed lights on a dimmer, two satin bronze vanity sconces above the mirrors, and the existing three windows providing the daytime ambient light. Project Specs Location: Springfield, Virginia Project type: Full primary bathroom remodel Project duration: Approximately 5 weeks Style: Modern, Transitional Color palette: Navy, white, brushed gold, marble Materials Cabinetry: Fabuwood Galaxy Indigo, Shaker-style flat panel maple, all-plywood construction Cabinet hardware: Jeffrey Alexander 635-96SBZ Satin Bronze pulls Vanity counter and bench top: MSI Calacatta Miraggio Cielo Quartz, pencil edge with 4" backsplash Sinks: Undermount white porcelain BR-202 square (x2) Wall tile: Decovita Calacatta Suave 24x48" porcelain Floor tile: MSI Sande Ivory 12x24" matte porcelain Shower floor + niche back: MSI Arabescato Carrara 2" honed hex mosaic marble Edge trim: Schluter satin bronze Shower door: Custom frameless 3/8" tempered glass Tub: 60" freestanding acrylic soaker (Ferguson) Tub filler: Floor-mounted satin bronze (Ferguson) Vanity faucets, mirrors, sconces, toilet: Satin bronze coordinated finishes (Ferguson) Wall paint: Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace 2121-70 Satin Ceiling paint: Benjamin Moore Aura Bath and Spa White Grout: Whisper Grey (floor), Standard White (walls and shower) Designed and built by My Kitchen and Bath out of our Alexandria showroom at 5710 General Washington Drive. We've been designing and building kitchens, bathrooms, and full home renovations across Northern Virginia and the DMV since 1994.

It was important not to interrupt the dynamic of this home's historic Church Hill neighborhood, and so all the exterior changes were kept to the back of the house, with the front remaining mostly unchanged. Although the front of the house doesn’t give away its secrets, the back of the house is an unexpected but delightful surprise. Embracing the new rear addition is the home’s original brick wall. Architectural design as well as Commission of Architectural Review requirements put a lot of emphasis on keeping the original masonry intact, which was no small feat. It took a lot of planning, some delicate demolition and talented carpentry to ensure this piece of history remained. In addition to the brick wall, other original aspects of the home were carefully preserved including the windows, floors and much of the trim work. Meanwhile all new, modern plumbing and fixtures were installed and custom cabinetry with inset routed “handles” were fabricated by Polosko Woodworks. Inside the home is even more appreciation of the original masonry with exposed brick walls in the primary bath.

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

It was important not to interrupt the dynamic of this home's historic Church Hill neighborhood, and so all the exterior changes were kept to the back of the house, with the front remaining mostly unchanged. Although the front of the house doesn’t give away its secrets, the back of the house is an unexpected but delightful surprise. Embracing the new rear addition is the home’s original brick wall. Architectural design as well as Commission of Architectural Review requirements put a lot of emphasis on keeping the original masonry intact, which was no small feat. It took a lot of planning, some delicate demolition and talented carpentry to ensure this piece of history remained. In addition to the brick wall, other original aspects of the home were carefully preserved including the windows, floors and much of the trim work. Meanwhile all new, modern plumbing and fixtures were installed and custom cabinetry with inset routed “handles” were fabricated by Polosko Woodworks. Inside the home is even more appreciation of the original masonry with exposed brick walls in the primary bath.

It was important not to interrupt the dynamic of this home's historic Church Hill neighborhood, and so all the exterior changes were kept to the back of the house, with the front remaining mostly unchanged. Although the front of the house doesn’t give away its secrets, the back of the house is an unexpected but delightful surprise. Embracing the new rear addition is the home’s original brick wall. Architectural design as well as Commission of Architectural Review requirements put a lot of emphasis on keeping the original masonry intact, which was no small feat. It took a lot of planning, some delicate demolition and talented carpentry to ensure this piece of history remained. In addition to the brick wall, other original aspects of the home were carefully preserved including the windows, floors and much of the trim work. Meanwhile all new, modern plumbing and fixtures were installed and custom cabinetry with inset routed “handles” were fabricated by Polosko Woodworks. Inside the home is even more appreciation of the original masonry with exposed brick walls in the primary bath.

It was important not to interrupt the dynamic of this home's historic Church Hill neighborhood, and so all the exterior changes were kept to the back of the house, with the front remaining mostly unchanged. Although the front of the house doesn’t give away its secrets, the back of the house is an unexpected but delightful surprise. Embracing the new rear addition is the home’s original brick wall. Architectural design as well as Commission of Architectural Review requirements put a lot of emphasis on keeping the original masonry intact, which was no small feat. It took a lot of planning, some delicate demolition and talented carpentry to ensure this piece of history remained. In addition to the brick wall, other original aspects of the home were carefully preserved including the windows, floors and much of the trim work. Meanwhile all new, modern plumbing and fixtures were installed and custom cabinetry with inset routed “handles” were fabricated by Polosko Woodworks. Inside the home is even more appreciation of the original masonry with exposed brick walls in the primary bath.

It was important not to interrupt the dynamic of this home's historic Church Hill neighborhood, and so all the exterior changes were kept to the back of the house, with the front remaining mostly unchanged. Although the front of the house doesn’t give away its secrets, the back of the house is an unexpected but delightful surprise. Embracing the new rear addition is the home’s original brick wall. Architectural design as well as Commission of Architectural Review requirements put a lot of emphasis on keeping the original masonry intact, which was no small feat. It took a lot of planning, some delicate demolition and talented carpentry to ensure this piece of history remained. In addition to the brick wall, other original aspects of the home were carefully preserved including the windows, floors and much of the trim work. Meanwhile all new, modern plumbing and fixtures were installed and custom cabinetry with inset routed “handles” were fabricated by Polosko Woodworks. Inside the home is even more appreciation of the original masonry with exposed brick walls in the primary bath.

It was important not to interrupt the dynamic of this home's historic Church Hill neighborhood, and so all the exterior changes were kept to the back of the house, with the front remaining mostly unchanged. Although the front of the house doesn’t give away its secrets, the back of the house is an unexpected but delightful surprise. Embracing the new rear addition is the home’s original brick wall. Architectural design as well as Commission of Architectural Review requirements put a lot of emphasis on keeping the original masonry intact, which was no small feat. It took a lot of planning, some delicate demolition and talented carpentry to ensure this piece of history remained. In addition to the brick wall, other original aspects of the home were carefully preserved including the windows, floors and much of the trim work. Meanwhile all new, modern plumbing and fixtures were installed and custom cabinetry with inset routed “handles” were fabricated by Polosko Woodworks. Inside the home is even more appreciation of the original masonry with exposed brick walls in the primary bath.

Herringbone and border running through the main corridor before sanding. The pattern ran continuously through every room and corridor across the full residence without interruption.