David Gardner
Elegant closet photo in Atlanta

David Gardner
Elegant mudroom photo in Atlanta

August is one of the most active months for Magnolia TX real estate. While many people think the busiest buying season ends in the spring, summer continues to bring motivated buyers, relocating families, and homeowners looking to settle into their new home before the school year is fully underway. Whether you're considering buying your first home, upgrading to more space, or preparing to sell, August offers unique opportunities in the Magnolia market. With a combination of seasonal demand, growing inventory, and continued interest in Montgomery County, buyers and sellers alike can benefit from having a well-planned strategy.

Mid-sized trendy medium tone wood floor and brown floor kitchen/dining room combo photo in San Francisco with white walls

David Gardner
Example of a classic bedroom design in Atlanta

Mid-sized trendy medium tone wood floor and brown floor kitchen/dining room combo photo in San Francisco with white walls

August is one of the most active months for Magnolia TX real estate. While many people think the busiest buying season ends in the spring, summer continues to bring motivated buyers, relocating families, and homeowners looking to settle into their new home before the school year is fully underway. Whether you're considering buying your first home, upgrading to more space, or preparing to sell, August offers unique opportunities in the Magnolia market. With a combination of seasonal demand, growing inventory, and continued interest in Montgomery County, buyers and sellers alike can benefit from having a well-planned strategy.

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

David Gardner
Closet - traditional closet idea in Atlanta

Allison Cartwright
Example of a trendy white two-story gable roof design in Austin

David Gardner
Elegant closet photo in Atlanta

August is one of the most active months for Magnolia TX real estate. While many people think the busiest buying season ends in the spring, summer continues to bring motivated buyers, relocating families, and homeowners looking to settle into their new home before the school year is fully underway. Whether you're considering buying your first home, upgrading to more space, or preparing to sell, August offers unique opportunities in the Magnolia market. With a combination of seasonal demand, growing inventory, and continued interest in Montgomery County, buyers and sellers alike can benefit from having a well-planned strategy.

August is one of the most active months for Magnolia TX real estate. While many people think the busiest buying season ends in the spring, summer continues to bring motivated buyers, relocating families, and homeowners looking to settle into their new home before the school year is fully underway. Whether you're considering buying your first home, upgrading to more space, or preparing to sell, August offers unique opportunities in the Magnolia market. With a combination of seasonal demand, growing inventory, and continued interest in Montgomery County, buyers and sellers alike can benefit from having a well-planned strategy.

David Gardner
Closet - traditional closet idea in Atlanta

August is one of the most active months for Magnolia TX real estate. While many people think the busiest buying season ends in the spring, summer continues to bring motivated buyers, relocating families, and homeowners looking to settle into their new home before the school year is fully underway. Whether you're considering buying your first home, upgrading to more space, or preparing to sell, August offers unique opportunities in the Magnolia market. With a combination of seasonal demand, growing inventory, and continued interest in Montgomery County, buyers and sellers alike can benefit from having a well-planned strategy.

This kitchen has many interesting elements that set it apart. The sense of openness is created by the raised ceiling and multiple ceiling levels, lighting and light colored cabinets. A custom hood over the stone back splash creates a wonderful focal point. The traditionally styled architectural mill work compliments the island's use of reclaimed wood, transitional tapered legs, and white Carrara marble. White Subway Tile and floating shelves in a distressed warm wood tone balance the barn door across the room and add another transitional touch to the room. This kitchen was featured in a Houzz Kitchen of the Week article! Photography by Alicia's Art, LLC RUDLOFF Custom Builders, is a residential construction company that connects with clients early in the design phase to ensure every detail of your project is captured just as you imagined. RUDLOFF Custom Builders will create the project of your dreams that is executed by on-site project managers and skilled craftsman, while creating lifetime client relationships that are build on trust and integrity. We are a full service, certified remodeling company that covers all of the Philadelphia suburban area including West Chester, Gladwynne, Malvern, Wayne, Haverford and more. As a 6 time Best of Houzz winner, we look forward to working with you on your next project.

David Gardner
Elegant closet photo in Atlanta

David Gardner; White melamine mudroom with bead board backing and shaker style doors and drawers. Oil rubbed bronze hooks.
Elegant mudroom photo in Atlanta

This kitchen, located in the addition was a massive improvement on allocation of space of the previous kitchen. Relocating it to the other side of the home allowed for a more central hall and an improved relationship with the dining room viewed beyond. It is also open to the new family room as a great room, perfect for interacting with family and a well lit view to the rear yard to watch the kids play during meal prep time. This new kitchen is the hub of the home!