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. Photographer: Open Homes Photography

Second level cedar deck with aluminum railing and beautiful landscaping. This project has an under deck ceiling under a portion of the deck to keep it dry year-round. This project also includes a fire pit and hot tub.

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A playground by the beach. This light-hearted family of four takes a cool, easy-going approach to their Hamptons home.
Pool - large coastal three-story white pool idea in New York

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Elegant bathroom photo in Seattle

The remodel project included refinishing existing hardwood floors throughout. The addition included an exterior deck that is 1,200 SF and is structured with cable railing. A new kitchen with custom cabinets and granite tops, wine cellar, and lower level game room with bar and sauna were added to the existing structure. The 900 SF master suite with balcony overlooks beautiful Lake Geneva.

Halkin/Mason Photography
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In the primary bath, all of the original features had been removed, except for the low sloped MCM ceiling that was prominently interrupted by a rectangular AC soffit that was added on later. We relocated the AC ducting to vent through the floor instead, and once again revealed the bath’s iconic low sloped triangular ceiling. Then, we began re-creating the new MCM space from the floor up. We widened the original primary bath by 2’ to accommodate an enclosed toilet room, at the request of the homeowners. This was quite a feat, as it required structural engineering to relocate one vertical steel column that interfered with the new toilet room layout. The new 14’ tall steel column, which supported part of the steel roof trusses, had to be extended through the home’s bathroom floor and into a cave underground secured by a concrete pier. Oh, did I mention that this home has a cave under part of it? Haha—when I say that this home was a challenge to remodel, I do mean it was a CHALLENGE.

This renovated brick rowhome in Boston’s South End offers a modern aesthetic within a historic structure, creative use of space, exceptional thermal comfort, a reduced carbon footprint, and a passive stream of income. DESIGN PRIORITIES. The goals for the project were clear - design the primary unit to accommodate the family’s modern lifestyle, rework the layout to create a desirable rental unit, improve thermal comfort and introduce a modern aesthetic. We designed the street-level entry as a shared entrance for both the primary and rental unit. The family uses it as their everyday entrance - we planned for bike storage and an open mudroom with bench and shoe storage to facilitate the change from shoes to slippers or bare feet as they enter their home. On the main level, we expanded the kitchen into the dining room to create an eat-in space with generous counter space and storage, as well as a comfortable connection to the living space. The second floor serves as master suite for the couple - a bedroom with a walk-in-closet and ensuite bathroom, and an adjacent study, with refinished original pumpkin pine floors. The upper floor, aside from a guest bedroom, is the child's domain with interconnected spaces for sleeping, work and play. In the play space, which can be separated from the work space with new translucent sliding doors, we incorporated recreational features inspired by adventurous and competitive television shows, at their son’s request. MODERN MEETS TRADITIONAL. We left the historic front facade of the building largely unchanged - the security bars were removed from the windows and the single pane windows were replaced with higher performing historic replicas. We designed the interior and rear facade with a vision of warm modernism, weaving in the notable period features. Each element was either restored or reinterpreted to blend with the modern aesthetic. The detailed ceiling in the living space, for example, has a new matte monochromatic finish, and the wood stairs are covered in a dark grey floor paint, whereas the mahogany doors were simply refinished. New wide plank wood flooring with a neutral finish, floor-to-ceiling casework, and bold splashes of color in wall paint and tile, and oversized high-performance windows (on the rear facade) round out the modern aesthetic. RENTAL INCOME. The existing rowhome was zoned for a 2-family dwelling but included an undesirable, single-floor studio apartment at the garden level with low ceiling heights and questionable emergency egress. In order to increase the quality and quantity of space in the rental unit, we reimagined it as a two-floor, 1 or 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a modern aesthetic, increased ceiling height on the lowest level and provided an in-unit washer/dryer. The apartment was listed with Jackie O'Connor Real Estate and rented immediately, providing the owners with a source of passive income. ENCLOSURE WITH BENEFITS. The homeowners sought a minimal carbon footprint, enabled by their urban location and lifestyle decisions, paired with the benefits of a high-performance home. The extent of the renovation allowed us to implement a deep energy retrofit (DER) to address air tightness, insulation, and high-performance windows. The historic front facade is insulated from the interior, while the rear facade is insulated on the exterior. Together with these building enclosure improvements, we designed an HVAC system comprised of continuous fresh air ventilation, and an efficient, all-electric heating and cooling system to decouple the house from natural gas. This strategy provides optimal thermal comfort and indoor air quality, improved acoustic isolation from street noise and neighbors, as well as a further reduced carbon footprint. We also took measures to prepare the roof for future solar panels, for when the South End neighborhood’s aging electrical infrastructure is upgraded to allow them. URBAN LIVING. The desirable neighborhood location allows the both the homeowners and tenant to walk, bike, and use public transportation to access the city, while each charging their respective plug-in electric cars behind the building to travel greater distances. OVERALL. The understated rowhouse is now ready for another century of urban living, offering the owners comfort and convenience as they live life as an expression of their values. Eric Roth Photo

Master Bedroom as originally constructed and prior to Master Bath addition (occurring at panel to left of roof ridge beam and shelves with books). Directly expressed structure, simple palette of materials: integrally colored concrete floor with embed radiant heat system, redwood plywood paneling and casework, douglas fir structural roof decking, plate glass.

This picture was taken by Master photographer, Alex Johnson. The yard design was done by Peter Koenig Designs in Alamo, the Hardscape and Soft scape were build and designed by Michael Tebb Landscape in Alamo and the Swimming Pool construction was done by Creative Environments in Alamo. What a great team effort by all that helped to create this wonder outdoor living space for our clients.

This is the master bedroom door to the master bathroom. The barndoor was handcrafted from shiplap taken from the original structure. Photo credit: Kathleen Ryan

Minimalist home design photo in New York

Photographer: Jay Goodrich This 2800 sf single-family home was completed in 2009. The clients desired an intimate, yet dynamic family residence that reflected the beauty of the site and the lifestyle of the San Juan Islands. The house was built to be both a place to gather for large dinners with friends and family as well as a cozy home for the couple when they are there alone. The project is located on a stunning, but cripplingly-restricted site overlooking Griffin Bay on San Juan Island. The most practical area to build was exactly where three beautiful old growth trees had already chosen to live. A prior architect, in a prior design, had proposed chopping them down and building right in the middle of the site. From our perspective, the trees were an important essence of the site and respectfully had to be preserved. As a result we squeezed the programmatic requirements, kept the clients on a square foot restriction and pressed tight against property setbacks. The delineate concept is a stone wall that sweeps from the parking to the entry, through the house and out the other side, terminating in a hook that nestles the master shower. This is the symbolic and functional shield between the public road and the private living spaces of the home owners. All the primary living spaces and the master suite are on the water side, the remaining rooms are tucked into the hill on the road side of the wall. Off-setting the solid massing of the stone walls is a pavilion which grabs the views and the light to the south, east and west. Built in a position to be hammered by the winter storms the pavilion, while light and airy in appearance and feeling, is constructed of glass, steel, stout wood timbers and doors with a stone roof and a slate floor. The glass pavilion is anchored by two concrete panel chimneys; the windows are steel framed and the exterior skin is of powder coated steel sheathing.

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Beautiful Custom Traditional Coastal Colonial Home of 4,877 square feet two-story home. Photos by: Latham Architectural
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