Inspiration for a country home design remodel in San Francisco

This simple and clean contemporary home was designed on a steeply sloping lot with a magnificent view of the Hill country. The main floor is designed to take advantage of the view and the very little level ground, while a partial lower floor steps down with the natural terrain mitigating costs and integrating into the hillside.

The Leavenworth Residence is a new home construction which was developed as a series of public and private pods connected by multi-purpose hall space. Situated to take advantage of territorial mountain views and its unique position alongside a creek. The home takes advantage of the best of the winter and summer lifestyles of the eastern Cascade location near Leavenworth, Washington.

The Leavenworth Residence is a new home construction which was developed as a series of public and private pods connected by multi-purpose hall space. Situated to take advantage of territorial mountain views and its unique position alongside a creek. The home takes advantage of the best of the winter and summer lifestyles of the eastern Cascade location near Leavenworth, Washington.

The Leavenworth Residence is a new home construction which was developed as a series of public and private pods connected by multi-purpose hall space. Situated to take advantage of territorial mountain views and its unique position alongside a creek. The home takes advantage of the best of the winter and summer lifestyles of the eastern Cascade location near Leavenworth, Washington.

Inspiration for a 1960s living room remodel in Austin

This home is built into a sloping site overlooking Perch Pond on scenic Cape Cod. Formally, the main living room and kitchen sit atop a plinth housing the other bedrooms and service spaces. The Master Suite is a separate pavilion from the main living space, connected by a sunlit breezeway which acts as an outdoor extension of the home. The house is oriented on the cardinal points, taking advantage of passive solar energy throughout the year.

What began as a renovation project morphed into a new house, driven by the natural beauty of the site. The new structures are perfectly aligned with the coastline, and take full advantage of the views of ocean, islands, and shoals. The location is within walking distance of town and its amenities, yet miles away in the privacy it affords. The house is nestled on a nicely wooded lot, giving the residence screening from the street, with an open meadow leading to the ocean on the rear of the lot. The design concept was driven by the serenity of the site, enhanced by textures of trees, plantings, sand and shoreline. The newly constructed house sits quietly in a location advantageously positioned to take full advantage of natural light and solar orientations. The visual calm is enhanced by the natural material: stone, wood, and metal throughout the home. The main structures are comprised of traditional New England forms, with modern connectors serving to unify the structures. Each building is equally suited for single floor living, if that future needs is ever necessary. Unique too is an underground connection between main house and an outbuilding. With their flowing connections, no room is isolated or ignored; instead each reflects a different level of privacy and social interaction. Just as there are layers to the exterior in beach, field, forest and oceans, the inside has a layered approach. Textures in wood, stone, and neutral colors combine with the warmth of linens, wools, and metals. Personality and character of the interiors and its furnishings are tailored to the client’s lifestyle. Rooms are arranged and organized in an intersection of public and private spaces. The quiet palette within reflects the nature outside, enhanced with artwork and accessories.

Facing to the South the gable end contains a 2 story wall of glass that brings in light for the entire home. The windows and doors on this house are Marvin Integrity Wood-Ultrex units with a ebony exterior. The siding used on this house is a poly-fly ash material manufactured by Boral. For the vertical siding a channel groove pattern was chosen and at the entry (green) a ship-lap pattern. The decking is a composite product from Fiberon with a cable rail system at one end. All the products on the exterior were chosen in part because of their low maintenance qualities. Photography by Anthony Crisafulli Photography

Mid Century Modern Contemporary design. White quartersawn veneer oak cabinets and white paint Crystal Cabinets
Huge 1960s master gray tile gray floor and double-sink bathroom photo in San Francisco with flat-panel cabinets, quartz countertops, an island, dark wood cabinets, an undermount tub, an undermount sink, white countertops, a niche and a floating vanity

This was a whole house remodeling on Cosco Bay in Maine. The original building was a ranch house that did not take full advantage of the view. The house was designed to be totally accessible featuring natural materials.

Not only did we renovate the main deck of the house, the owner wanted to add a roof deck and take advantage of the additional height to see across the wooded landscape below.

The owners requested that their home harmonize with the spirit of the surrounding Colorado mountain setting and enhance their outdoor recreational lifestyle - while reflecting their contemporary architectural tastes. The site was burdened with a myriad of strict design criteria enforced by the neighborhood covenants and architectural review board. Creating a distinct design challenge, the covenants included a narrow interpretation of a “mountain style” home which established predetermined roof pitches, glazing percentages and material palettes - at direct odds with the client‘s vision of a flat-roofed, glass, “contemporary” home. Our solution finds inspiration and opportunities within the site covenant’s strict definitions. It promotes and celebrates the client’s outdoor lifestyle and resolves the definition of a contemporary “mountain style” home by reducing the architecture to its most basic vernacular forms and relying upon local materials. The home utilizes a simple base, middle and top that echoes the surrounding mountains and vegetation. The massing takes its cues from the prevalent lodgepole pine trees that grow at the mountain’s high altitudes. These pine trees have a distinct growth pattern, highlighted by a single vertical trunk and a peaked, densely foliated growth zone above a sparse base. This growth pattern is referenced by placing the wood-clad body of the home at the second story above an open base composed of wood posts and glass. A simple peaked roof rests lightly atop the home - visually floating above a triangular glass transom. The home itself is neatly inserted amongst an existing grove of lodgepole pines and oriented to take advantage of panoramic views of the adjacent meadow and Continental Divide beyond. The main functions of the house are arranged into public and private areas and this division is made apparent on the home’s exterior. Two large roof forms, clad in pre-patinated zinc, are separated by a sheltering central deck - which signals the main entry to the home. At this connection, the roof deck is opened to allow a cluster of aspen trees to grow – further reinforcing nature as an integral part of arrival. Outdoor living spaces are provided on all levels of the house and are positioned to take advantage of sunrise and sunset moments. The distinction between interior and exterior space is blurred via the use of large expanses of glass. The dry stacked stone base and natural cedar cladding both reappear within the home’s interior spaces. This home offers a unique solution to the client’s requests while satisfying the design requirements of the neighborhood covenants. The house provides a variety of indoor and outdoor living spaces that can be utilized in all seasons. Most importantly, the house takes its cues directly from its natural surroundings and local building traditions to become a prototype solution for the “modern mountain house”. Overview Ranch Creek Ranch Winter Park, Colorado Completion Date October, 2007 Services Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture

This home is built into a sloping site overlooking Perch Pond on scenic Cape Cod. Formally, the main living room and kitchen sit atop a plinth housing the other bedrooms and service spaces. The Master Suite is a separate pavilion from the main living space, connected by a sunlit breezeway which acts as an outdoor extension of the home. The house is oriented on the cardinal points, taking advantage of passive solar energy throughout the year.

As a cottage, the Ridgecrest was designed to take full advantage of a property rich in natural beauty. Each of the main houses three bedrooms, and all of the entertaining spaces, have large rear facing windows with thick craftsman style casing. A glance at the front motor court reveals a guesthouse above a three-stall garage. Complete with separate entrance, the guesthouse features its own bathroom, kitchen, laundry, living room and bedroom. The columned entry porch of the main house is centered on the floor plan, but is tucked under the left side of the homes large transverse gable. Centered under this gable is a grand staircase connecting the foyer to the lower level corridor. Directly to the rear of the foyer is the living room. With tall windows and a vaulted ceiling. The living rooms stone fireplace has flanking cabinets that anchor an axis that runs through the living and dinning room, ending at the side patio. A large island anchors the open concept kitchen and dining space. On the opposite side of the main level is a private master suite, complete with spacious dressing room and double vanity master bathroom. Buffering the living room from the master bedroom, with a large built-in feature wall, is a private study. Downstairs, rooms are organized off of a linear corridor with one end being terminated by a shared bathroom for the two lower bedrooms and large entertainment spaces. Photographer: Ashley Avila Photography Builder: Douglas Sumner Builder, Inc. Interior Design: Vision Interiors by Visbeen

The homeowners had just purchased this home in El Segundo and they had remodeled the kitchen and one of the bathrooms on their own. However, they had more work to do. They felt that the rest of the project was too big and complex to tackle on their own and so they retained us to take over where they left off. The main focus of the project was to create a master suite and take advantage of the rather large backyard as an extension of their home. They were looking to create a more fluid indoor outdoor space. When adding the new master suite leaving the ceilings vaulted along with French doors give the space a feeling of openness. The window seat was originally designed as an architectural feature for the exterior but turned out to be a benefit to the interior! They wanted a spa feel for their master bathroom utilizing organic finishes. Since the plan is that this will be their forever home a curbless shower was an important feature to them. The glass barn door on the shower makes the space feel larger and allows for the travertine shower tile to show through. Floating shelves and vanity allow the space to feel larger while the natural tones of the porcelain tile floor are calming. The his and hers vessel sinks make the space functional for two people to use it at once. The walk-in closet is open while the master bathroom has a white pocket door for privacy. Since a new master suite was added to the home we converted the existing master bedroom into a family room. Adding French Doors to the family room opened up the floorplan to the outdoors while increasing the amount of natural light in this room. The closet that was previously in the bedroom was converted to built in cabinetry and floating shelves in the family room. The French doors in the master suite and family room now both open to the same deck space. The homes new open floor plan called for a kitchen island to bring the kitchen and dining / great room together. The island is a 3” countertop vs the standard inch and a half. This design feature gives the island a chunky look. It was important that the island look like it was always a part of the kitchen. Lastly, we added a skylight in the corner of the kitchen as it felt dark once we closed off the side door that was there previously. Repurposing rooms and opening the floor plan led to creating a laundry closet out of an old coat closet (and borrowing a small space from the new family room). The floors become an integral part of tying together an open floor plan like this. The home still had original oak floors and the homeowners wanted to maintain that character. We laced in new planks and refinished it all to bring the project together. To add curb appeal we removed the carport which was blocking a lot of natural light from the outside of the house. We also re-stuccoed the home and added exterior trim.

This home is built into a sloping site overlooking Perch Pond on scenic Cape Cod. Formally, the main living room and kitchen sit atop a plinth housing the other bedrooms and service spaces. The Master Suite is a separate pavilion from the main living space, connected by a sunlit breezeway which acts as an outdoor extension of the home. The house is oriented on the cardinal points, taking advantage of passive solar energy throughout the year.

This home is built into a sloping site overlooking Perch Pond on scenic Cape Cod. Formally, the main living room and kitchen sit atop a plinth housing the other bedrooms and service spaces. The Master Suite is a separate pavilion from the main living space, connected by a sunlit breezeway which acts as an outdoor extension of the home. The house is oriented on the cardinal points, taking advantage of passive solar energy throughout the year.

Jim Bell designed the main level renovation and sunroom addition to take full advantage of the gorgeous views from every room, by adding soaring windows plus redesigning and opening up the kitchen. A towering stone fireplace anchors the open concept living spaces. The home office area is tucked in beside the main living room area with windows to provide both light and views of the river.