This 2017 Project begins with a wonderful Palo Alto family of four wanted to get more use of their backyard. Their existing backyard had served its purpose for many years when their children were young. Now their children in college, it was underused and in desperate need of an update. Having lived in their home for 19 years, my clients communicated clearly with goals to take advantage of the reason they moved to Palo Alto in the first place. Both desire spending more time for themselves enjoying our year round climate in Northern California. By initially addressing the specific request to decrease the water usage and the accompanying utility bills, objective for addition of a fire pit to the existing spa destination; both sharing their spaces for also a new destination of the turf for the husband, and avid golfer. John had always wanted to practice in his own backyard. Viola! The perfect place to entertain, dine, relax and play! NO RESERVATIONS REQUIRED! A very comfortable, attractive and inviting new outdoor living room has been created! Welcome Home!

This 2017 Project begins with a wonderful Palo Alto family of four wanted to get more use of their backyard. Their existing backyard had served its purpose for many years when their children were young. Now their children in college, it was underused and in desperate need of an update. Having lived in their home for 19 years, my clients communicated clearly with goals to take advantage of the reason they moved to Palo Alto in the first place. Both desire spending more time for themselves enjoying our year round climate in Northern California. By initially addressing the specific request to decrease the water usage and the accompanying utility bills, objective for addition of a fire pit to the existing spa destination; both sharing their spaces for also a new destination of the turf for the husband, and avid golfer. John had always wanted to practice in his own backyard. Viola! The perfect place to entertain, dine, relax and play! NO RESERVATIONS REQUIRED! A very comfortable, attractive and inviting new outdoor living room has been created! Welcome Home!

Client’s were seeking a luminous, coastal-inspired kitchen that honored Puget Sound views, the clients required a high-functioning space for an expanding family, including four adult children and future in-laws. The plan prioritizes abundant storage, intuitive cooking and cleanup zones, and seamless guest circulation that preserves the workflow. Custom walnut base cabinetry lends resilience, warmth, and visual depth, balanced by honed quartz and airy wall cabinetry. Navy island cabinetry, nautical fixtures, and a mixed hue backsplash evoke the shoreline without feeling overly thematic.

To begin with, any old home requires extra space for its growing family. And, that is ‘clinically’ achieved through an act of ADU construction in Chula Vista, by seamlessly converting an unused garage into a spacious accommodation for elderly parents, in-laws, young children, or used as a rental space for earning a monthly income. ADU Construction in Chula Vista, CA - https://www.openspacessd.com/

Client’s were seeking a luminous, coastal-inspired kitchen that honored Puget Sound views, the clients required a high-functioning space for an expanding family, including four adult children and future in-laws. The plan prioritizes abundant storage, intuitive cooking and cleanup zones, and seamless guest circulation that preserves the workflow. Custom walnut base cabinetry lends resilience, warmth, and visual depth, balanced by honed quartz and airy wall cabinetry. Navy island cabinetry, nautical fixtures, and a mixed hue backsplash evoke the shoreline without feeling overly thematic.

To begin with, any old home requires extra space for its growing family. And, that is ‘clinically’ achieved through an act of ADU construction in Chula Vista, by seamlessly converting an unused garage into a spacious accommodation for elderly parents, in-laws, young children, or used as a rental space for earning a monthly income. ADU Construction in Chula Vista, CA - https://www.openspacessd.com/

An ADU contractor in La Mirada can help get that extra dwelling space at residence through an act of home addition, bump-out addition or building a new dwelling unit in the backyard. This is required when your children or parents arrive to stay with you, after spending some time in different cities or towns. ADU Construction in La Mirada, CA - https://www.benioconstruction.com/

Client’s were seeking a luminous, coastal-inspired kitchen that honored Puget Sound views, the clients required a high-functioning space for an expanding family, including four adult children and future in-laws. The plan prioritizes abundant storage, intuitive cooking and cleanup zones, and seamless guest circulation that preserves the workflow. Custom walnut base cabinetry lends resilience, warmth, and visual depth, balanced by honed quartz and airy wall cabinetry. Navy island cabinetry, nautical fixtures, and a mixed hue backsplash evoke the shoreline without feeling overly thematic.

Client’s were seeking a luminous, coastal-inspired kitchen that honored Puget Sound views, the clients required a high-functioning space for an expanding family, including four adult children and future in-laws. The plan prioritizes abundant storage, intuitive cooking and cleanup zones, and seamless guest circulation that preserves the workflow. Custom walnut base cabinetry lends resilience, warmth, and visual depth, balanced by honed quartz and airy wall cabinetry. Navy island cabinetry, nautical fixtures, and a mixed hue backsplash evoke the shoreline without feeling overly thematic.

To begin with, any old home requires extra space for its growing family. And, that is ‘clinically’ achieved through an act of ADU construction in Chula Vista, by seamlessly converting an unused garage into a spacious accommodation for elderly parents, in-laws, young children, or used as a rental space for earning a monthly income. ADU Construction in Chula Vista, CA - https://www.openspacessd.com/

Client’s were seeking a luminous, coastal-inspired kitchen that honored Puget Sound views, the clients required a high-functioning space for an expanding family, including four adult children and future in-laws. The plan prioritizes abundant storage, intuitive cooking and cleanup zones, and seamless guest circulation that preserves the workflow. Custom walnut base cabinetry lends resilience, warmth, and visual depth, balanced by honed quartz and airy wall cabinetry. Navy island cabinetry, nautical fixtures, and a mixed hue backsplash evoke the shoreline without feeling overly thematic.

To begin with, any old home requires extra space for its growing family. And, that is ‘clinically’ achieved through an act of ADU construction in Chula Vista, by seamlessly converting an unused garage into a spacious accommodation for elderly parents, in-laws, young children, or used as a rental space for earning a monthly income. ADU Construction in Chula Vista, CA - https://www.openspacessd.com/

Client’s were seeking a luminous, coastal-inspired kitchen that honored Puget Sound views, the clients required a high-functioning space for an expanding family, including four adult children and future in-laws. The plan prioritizes abundant storage, intuitive cooking and cleanup zones, and seamless guest circulation that preserves the workflow. Custom walnut base cabinetry lends resilience, warmth, and visual depth, balanced by honed quartz and airy wall cabinetry. Navy island cabinetry, nautical fixtures, and a mixed hue backsplash evoke the shoreline without feeling overly thematic.

Client’s were seeking a luminous, coastal-inspired kitchen that honored Puget Sound views, the clients required a high-functioning space for an expanding family, including four adult children and future in-laws. The plan prioritizes abundant storage, intuitive cooking and cleanup zones, and seamless guest circulation that preserves the workflow. Custom walnut base cabinetry lends resilience, warmth, and visual depth, balanced by honed quartz and airy wall cabinetry. Navy island cabinetry, nautical fixtures, and a mixed hue backsplash evoke the shoreline without feeling overly thematic.

Client’s were seeking a luminous, coastal-inspired kitchen that honored Puget Sound views, the clients required a high-functioning space for an expanding family, including four adult children and future in-laws. The plan prioritizes abundant storage, intuitive cooking and cleanup zones, and seamless guest circulation that preserves the workflow. Custom walnut base cabinetry lends resilience, warmth, and visual depth, balanced by honed quartz and airy wall cabinetry. Navy island cabinetry, nautical fixtures, and a mixed hue backsplash evoke the shoreline without feeling overly thematic.

This Cobble Hill Brownstone for a family of five is a fun and captivating design, the perfect blend of the wife’s love of English country style and the husband’s preference for modern. The young power couple, her the co-founder of Maisonette and him an investor, have three children and a dog, requiring that all the surfaces, finishes and, materials used throughout the home are both beautiful and durable to make every room a carefree space the whole family can enjoy. The primary design challenge for this project was creating both distinct places for the family to live their day to day lives and also a whole floor dedicated to formal entertainment. The clients entertain large dinners on a monthly basis as part of their profession. We solved this by adding an extension on the Garden and Parlor levels. This allowed the Garden level to function as the daily family operations center and the Parlor level to be party central. The kitchen on the garden level is large enough to dine in and accommodate a large catering crew. On the parlor level, we created a large double parlor in the front of the house; this space is dedicated to cocktail hour and after-dinner drinks. The rear of the parlor is a spacious formal dining room that can seat up to 14 guests. The middle "library" space contains a bar and facilitates access to both the front and rear rooms; in this way, it can double as a staging area for the parties. The remaining three floors are sleeping quarters for the family and frequent out of town guests. Designing a row house for private and public functions programmatically returns the building to a configuration in line with its original design. This project was published in Architectural Digest. Photography by Sam Frost

This beautiful balcony is designed to provide both ornamental detail to the exterior of the home as well as provide a secondary means of egress from the children's bedroom. It was custom fabricated to not only enhance the appearance of the home but to help comply with local building code requirements.

TENNESSEE RIVER HOUSE A successful businessman sold his company, and as part of the deal, was required to move to Knoxville, Tennessee. Having long been used to lake living in his native Alabama, he and his wife wanted to find a spot that would allow them to continue their life long love of being close to the water. They located such a site on the Tennessee River in a place appropriately called “Lake Loudon”. The rolling pasture-like site had great water access and views, and few trees creating a wide open kind of scenery. They hoped to make a place for their grown children to return to them with their grandchildren. The design engages and embeds the house into the hillside to become part of the landscape rather than sit in the middle of the field. The house was rotated slightly away from a straight on view of the river to shield from western sun, in favor of the northern exposure which opened up longer views of the Tennessee River, also allowing for more liberal use of windows in the main living space.

This inner-city garden was designed to meet the needs of a young family who like to entertain but still required solutions for storage and off street parking. Key to the design was connecting the two different areas of the lower courtyard with the upper carstand area. A solution was obtained through constructing an intermediate landing with built in seating and a new gas BBQ. An open style steel balustrade allows for safety between the two areas and visually takes full advantage of the depth of the property. All-weather protection provided by retractable awnings to both upper and lower areas ensures year round enjoyment. Sliding doors in the garage help the generous storage recede into the design. Spotted gum hardwood timber decking extends the internal areas outside and the wrap around steps further connect the spaces by providing an inviting entry to the BBQ area. A large floating timber bench seat is both practical and breaks up the large retaining wall to the upper carport. A grey and white colour palette provides a sophisticated look whilst highlighting punctuations of playful colour and contemporary styling to link the children’s play areas with the home.