The 722 Ash Street residence consists of a 1500 sf primary house with a contiguous 500 sf accessory dwelling. The project is set in the rich culture of North Lawrence, its rear property line abuts the Lawrence levee trail which runs for nine miles along the north bank of the Kansas River. North Lawrence is known for its quality soil, large trees, curbless streets and random size parcels before it breaks into larger farms further from the urban center. It is built on the typical orthogonal grid of American development, but it represents the older growth of the city prior to urban planners and zoning regulations. The rumble of freight trains and farm trucks in the shadows of the towering grain elevators are only blocks away. It is home to many who enjoy being only a bridge crossing away from Lawrence’s vibrant downtown but are far enough away to maintain their independence from many of the restrictions on living near the historic district. They can work in their large gardens and toiling in their garages and shops in a manner more rural than urban. The house on 722 Ash St. is imbued with the character of North Lawrence and the Levee Trail area. The design was inspired by the Midwestern farmstead vernacular of the region. These timeless vernacular qualities house all the accommodations necessary for modern, sustainable living. A unique feature of this house is the Accessory Dwelling Unit permitted in the zoning district. It is a small separate residence on the same lot that can be used for income property or for extended family members. It also supports the city of Lawrence’s goals of increased density close to downtown rather than continued sprawl into the countryside. The buildings use technology and common-sense design to reduce the building’s footprint and assure the owners low energy use and costs. A 4.9 Kw solar collection system is located on the only south facing gable and the super insulated envelopes (r-62 roof and r-35 walls) of all three forms easily exceeds the standards. Studio 804 continues their long standing pattern of maintaining the highest level of sustainable design while remaining contextually sensitive to the surrounding community. This house, like every Studio 804 project since 2008, is USGBC LEED Platinum Certified.

This 1,000ft² recording and production studio, built in 2021 for producer couple Latifah Alattas and Lucas Morton, was designed as a fully custom creative environment that supports writing, mixing, and collaboration at the highest level. Both Latifah and Lucas are multi-instrumentalists, engineers, and mixers, and the studio reflects the full range of their workflows—visually inspiring, technically precise, and intuitive in every room. The facility was built from the ground up with a strong emphasis on architectural acoustics and plug-and-play connectivity. The layout includes two Control Rooms, multiple isolation booths, and shared common spaces, all tied together with seamless audio integration. No matter where you are in the studio, routing, monitoring, and communication remain effortless and consistent. Behind the aesthetic, the acoustic design is exceptionally robust. Six independent floating-floor systems support the suites, ensuring each room operates with minimal sound transmission. Tailored sound-reducing wall assemblies, full-lite doors, engineered window systems, and intentional treatment plans deliver clarity, isolation, and precision for tracking and mixing. Each space is mechanically decoupled, allowing multiple rooms to run simultaneously without compromise. For monitoring, both Latifah and Lucas chose Genelec “The Ones” series monitors with GLM calibration to ensure accurate translation and consistency across the entire facility. Natural light and a warm, welcoming aesthetic anchor the visual identity of the studio, reflecting the creative energy and personality of its owners. The result is a highly functional, beautifully crafted space where ideas can move freely and production can happen without limitations.

The home is 100% solar powered with a battery backup system. The home can run independently of the utility indefinitely with this system. The owners will never be without power. There is approximately 6kW of solar on the roof and 4 - 250 amp hour 12v batteries for back up. The heating is backed up with a 95% efficient propane furnace and the hot water is backed up with a propane water heater. Cooking is propane and there are 2 propane fireplaces that can also heat the home. The solar system is also used to charge the owners 2 electric cars for daily driving.

The Everett plan has ideal spaces for working and relaxing! Just down from the entry hall with a handy bench and coat hooks to stow your things, the Everett plan welcomes you into the open and inviting great room, kitchen and dining room. Whip up casual meals in the chef’s kitchen to enjoy at the oversize island with a 4-person eating bar, or savor more formal meals in the dining room. Access the covered patio for al fresco dining all year, then gather with friends and loved ones in the great room with a stylish tray ceiling for a cozy fire in the fireplace or settle in to read a book on one of the two window seats. Just across from the kitchen is the private office, a perfect space for managing the household, working from home, or a private area for studying. Retreat and relax in the luxury master suite with tile shower and a window between the vanity sinks to catch the light, or head outside for coffee on the covered patio via your private door. Off the main hallway are two bedrooms with walk-in closets and a full bath with linen storage…everything the other members of your family needs or perfect for occasional guests and the owners getaway rooms. After running errands, park in one of the two individual garage bays and enter through the utility room fully built out with a drop-counter for packages and folding clothes, cabinets, a utility sink, hanging bar, and hookups for your washer and dryer. Built to exceed Energy Star Certification means your utility bills will be low, and Solar Ready gives you the option to be energy independent in the future. Photos are from a previous build. Pricing will be finalized just prior to completion.

The home is 100% solar powered with a battery backup system. The home can run independently of the utility indefinitely with this system. The owners will never be without power. There is approximately 6kW of solar on the roof and 4 - 250 amp hour 12v batteries for back up. The heating is backed up with a 95% efficient propane furnace and the hot water is backed up with a propane water heater. Cooking is propane and there are 2 propane fireplaces that can also heat the home. The solar system is also used to charge the owners 2 electric cars for daily driving.

Custom staircase with craftsman newels and railings and wrought iron balusters. Photo by: George Cuevas, Agent Refined Media
Trendy wooden straight staircase photo in Chicago with wooden risers

The home is 100% solar powered with a battery backup system. The home can run independently of the utility indefinitely with this system. The owners will never be without power. There is approximately 6kW of solar on the roof and 4 - 250 amp hour 12v batteries for back up. The heating is backed up with a 95% efficient propane furnace and the hot water is backed up with a propane water heater. Cooking is propane and there are 2 propane fireplaces that can also heat the home. The solar system is also used to charge the owners 2 electric cars for daily driving.

This 1,000ft² recording and production studio, built in 2021 for producer couple Latifah Alattas and Lucas Morton, was designed as a fully custom creative environment that supports writing, mixing, and collaboration at the highest level. Both Latifah and Lucas are multi-instrumentalists, engineers, and mixers, and the studio reflects the full range of their workflows—visually inspiring, technically precise, and intuitive in every room. The facility was built from the ground up with a strong emphasis on architectural acoustics and plug-and-play connectivity. The layout includes two Control Rooms, multiple isolation booths, and shared common spaces, all tied together with seamless audio integration. No matter where you are in the studio, routing, monitoring, and communication remain effortless and consistent. Behind the aesthetic, the acoustic design is exceptionally robust. Six independent floating-floor systems support the suites, ensuring each room operates with minimal sound transmission. Tailored sound-reducing wall assemblies, full-lite doors, engineered window systems, and intentional treatment plans deliver clarity, isolation, and precision for tracking and mixing. Each space is mechanically decoupled, allowing multiple rooms to run simultaneously without compromise. For monitoring, both Latifah and Lucas chose Genelec “The Ones” series monitors with GLM calibration to ensure accurate translation and consistency across the entire facility. Natural light and a warm, welcoming aesthetic anchor the visual identity of the studio, reflecting the creative energy and personality of its owners. The result is a highly functional, beautifully crafted space where ideas can move freely and production can happen without limitations.

Music and lighting from the Savant smart home system extend into the wine room, and can be independently controlled from the rest of the system.
Inspiration for a large transitional multicolored floor dining room remodel in Philadelphia

This 1,000ft² recording and production studio, built in 2021 for producer couple Latifah Alattas and Lucas Morton, was designed as a fully custom creative environment that supports writing, mixing, and collaboration at the highest level. Both Latifah and Lucas are multi-instrumentalists, engineers, and mixers, and the studio reflects the full range of their workflows—visually inspiring, technically precise, and intuitive in every room. The facility was built from the ground up with a strong emphasis on architectural acoustics and plug-and-play connectivity. The layout includes two Control Rooms, multiple isolation booths, and shared common spaces, all tied together with seamless audio integration. No matter where you are in the studio, routing, monitoring, and communication remain effortless and consistent. Behind the aesthetic, the acoustic design is exceptionally robust. Six independent floating-floor systems support the suites, ensuring each room operates with minimal sound transmission. Tailored sound-reducing wall assemblies, full-lite doors, engineered window systems, and intentional treatment plans deliver clarity, isolation, and precision for tracking and mixing. Each space is mechanically decoupled, allowing multiple rooms to run simultaneously without compromise. For monitoring, both Latifah and Lucas chose Genelec “The Ones” series monitors with GLM calibration to ensure accurate translation and consistency across the entire facility. Natural light and a warm, welcoming aesthetic anchor the visual identity of the studio, reflecting the creative energy and personality of its owners. The result is a highly functional, beautifully crafted space where ideas can move freely and production can happen without limitations.

Close-up of the coffered ceiling and crystal chandelier in the dining room of this Brickell Key penthouse. Warm RGB cove lighting runs the full perimeter of the ceiling - color and intensity controlled independently through Crestron. The chandelier dims on its own circuit as part of the dining scene.

This 1,000ft² recording and production studio, built in 2021 for producer couple Latifah Alattas and Lucas Morton, was designed as a fully custom creative environment that supports writing, mixing, and collaboration at the highest level. Both Latifah and Lucas are multi-instrumentalists, engineers, and mixers, and the studio reflects the full range of their workflows—visually inspiring, technically precise, and intuitive in every room. The facility was built from the ground up with a strong emphasis on architectural acoustics and plug-and-play connectivity. The layout includes two Control Rooms, multiple isolation booths, and shared common spaces, all tied together with seamless audio integration. No matter where you are in the studio, routing, monitoring, and communication remain effortless and consistent. Behind the aesthetic, the acoustic design is exceptionally robust. Six independent floating-floor systems support the suites, ensuring each room operates with minimal sound transmission. Tailored sound-reducing wall assemblies, full-lite doors, engineered window systems, and intentional treatment plans deliver clarity, isolation, and precision for tracking and mixing. Each space is mechanically decoupled, allowing multiple rooms to run simultaneously without compromise. For monitoring, both Latifah and Lucas chose Genelec “The Ones” series monitors with GLM calibration to ensure accurate translation and consistency across the entire facility. Natural light and a warm, welcoming aesthetic anchor the visual identity of the studio, reflecting the creative energy and personality of its owners. The result is a highly functional, beautifully crafted space where ideas can move freely and production can happen without limitations.

This 1,000ft² recording and production studio, built in 2021 for producer couple Latifah Alattas and Lucas Morton, was designed as a fully custom creative environment that supports writing, mixing, and collaboration at the highest level. Both Latifah and Lucas are multi-instrumentalists, engineers, and mixers, and the studio reflects the full range of their workflows—visually inspiring, technically precise, and intuitive in every room. The facility was built from the ground up with a strong emphasis on architectural acoustics and plug-and-play connectivity. The layout includes two Control Rooms, multiple isolation booths, and shared common spaces, all tied together with seamless audio integration. No matter where you are in the studio, routing, monitoring, and communication remain effortless and consistent. Behind the aesthetic, the acoustic design is exceptionally robust. Six independent floating-floor systems support the suites, ensuring each room operates with minimal sound transmission. Tailored sound-reducing wall assemblies, full-lite doors, engineered window systems, and intentional treatment plans deliver clarity, isolation, and precision for tracking and mixing. Each space is mechanically decoupled, allowing multiple rooms to run simultaneously without compromise. For monitoring, both Latifah and Lucas chose Genelec “The Ones” series monitors with GLM calibration to ensure accurate translation and consistency across the entire facility. Natural light and a warm, welcoming aesthetic anchor the visual identity of the studio, reflecting the creative energy and personality of its owners. The result is a highly functional, beautifully crafted space where ideas can move freely and production can happen without limitations.

Design rendering for a rear home addition in Pleasant Hill, California, by Taragano Design & Build. The addition is placed at the corner of the rear elevation rather than centered on it. That position was chosen to protect the existing windows along the back of the house. Extending straight off the middle would have added a room and darkened two others behind it, which is the most common way an addition makes a house worse while making it bigger. Set to the side, the new volume gets glass on two exposures and leaves the original rooms their daylight. It also creates a sheltered corner between old and new, and that corner becomes the patio without any structure built to define it. The roof runs as its own gable rather than tying into the existing pitch. On a house with a busy roof line already, extending the original would have meant a valley condition that collects debris and complicates drainage. A separate gable sheds independently and reads as a deliberate wing. Hardscape was planned to move water as much as to move people. The paver patio drains toward a rock swale rather than back toward the foundation, which matters in Contra Costa where expansive soils make foundation drainage the thing that determines whether the work holds up. Licensed general contractor, CSLB #1143420. Diamond Certified.

This 1,000ft² recording and production studio, built in 2021 for producer couple Latifah Alattas and Lucas Morton, was designed as a fully custom creative environment that supports writing, mixing, and collaboration at the highest level. Both Latifah and Lucas are multi-instrumentalists, engineers, and mixers, and the studio reflects the full range of their workflows—visually inspiring, technically precise, and intuitive in every room. The facility was built from the ground up with a strong emphasis on architectural acoustics and plug-and-play connectivity. The layout includes two Control Rooms, multiple isolation booths, and shared common spaces, all tied together with seamless audio integration. No matter where you are in the studio, routing, monitoring, and communication remain effortless and consistent. Behind the aesthetic, the acoustic design is exceptionally robust. Six independent floating-floor systems support the suites, ensuring each room operates with minimal sound transmission. Tailored sound-reducing wall assemblies, full-lite doors, engineered window systems, and intentional treatment plans deliver clarity, isolation, and precision for tracking and mixing. Each space is mechanically decoupled, allowing multiple rooms to run simultaneously without compromise. For monitoring, both Latifah and Lucas chose Genelec “The Ones” series monitors with GLM calibration to ensure accurate translation and consistency across the entire facility. Natural light and a warm, welcoming aesthetic anchor the visual identity of the studio, reflecting the creative energy and personality of its owners. The result is a highly functional, beautifully crafted space where ideas can move freely and production can happen without limitations.

This 1,000ft² recording and production studio, built in 2021 for producer couple Latifah Alattas and Lucas Morton, was designed as a fully custom creative environment that supports writing, mixing, and collaboration at the highest level. Both Latifah and Lucas are multi-instrumentalists, engineers, and mixers, and the studio reflects the full range of their workflows—visually inspiring, technically precise, and intuitive in every room. The facility was built from the ground up with a strong emphasis on architectural acoustics and plug-and-play connectivity. The layout includes two Control Rooms, multiple isolation booths, and shared common spaces, all tied together with seamless audio integration. No matter where you are in the studio, routing, monitoring, and communication remain effortless and consistent. Behind the aesthetic, the acoustic design is exceptionally robust. Six independent floating-floor systems support the suites, ensuring each room operates with minimal sound transmission. Tailored sound-reducing wall assemblies, full-lite doors, engineered window systems, and intentional treatment plans deliver clarity, isolation, and precision for tracking and mixing. Each space is mechanically decoupled, allowing multiple rooms to run simultaneously without compromise. For monitoring, both Latifah and Lucas chose Genelec “The Ones” series monitors with GLM calibration to ensure accurate translation and consistency across the entire facility. Natural light and a warm, welcoming aesthetic anchor the visual identity of the studio, reflecting the creative energy and personality of its owners. The result is a highly functional, beautifully crafted space where ideas can move freely and production can happen without limitations.

The Everett plan has ideal spaces for working and relaxing! Just down from the entry hall with a handy bench and coat hooks to stow your things, the Everett plan welcomes you into the open and inviting great room, kitchen and dining room. Whip up casual meals in the chef’s kitchen to enjoy at the oversize island with a 4-person eating bar, or savor more formal meals in the dining room. Access the covered patio for al fresco dining all year, then gather with friends and loved ones in the great room with a stylish tray ceiling for a cozy fire in the fireplace or settle in to read a book on one of the two window seats. Just across from the kitchen is the private office, a perfect space for managing the household, working from home, or a private area for studying. Retreat and relax in the luxury master suite with tile shower and a window between the vanity sinks to catch the light, or head outside for coffee on the covered patio via your private door. Off the main hallway are two bedrooms with walk-in closets and a full bath with linen storage…everything the other members of your family needs or perfect for occasional guests and the owners getaway rooms. After running errands, park in one of the two individual garage bays and enter through the utility room fully built out with a drop-counter for packages and folding clothes, cabinets, a utility sink, hanging bar, and hookups for your washer and dryer. Built to exceed Energy Star Certification means your utility bills will be low, and Solar Ready gives you the option to be energy independent in the future. Photos are from a previous build. Pricing will be finalized just prior to completion.

This 1,000ft² recording and production studio, built in 2021 for producer couple Latifah Alattas and Lucas Morton, was designed as a fully custom creative environment that supports writing, mixing, and collaboration at the highest level. Both Latifah and Lucas are multi-instrumentalists, engineers, and mixers, and the studio reflects the full range of their workflows—visually inspiring, technically precise, and intuitive in every room. The facility was built from the ground up with a strong emphasis on architectural acoustics and plug-and-play connectivity. The layout includes two Control Rooms, multiple isolation booths, and shared common spaces, all tied together with seamless audio integration. No matter where you are in the studio, routing, monitoring, and communication remain effortless and consistent. Behind the aesthetic, the acoustic design is exceptionally robust. Six independent floating-floor systems support the suites, ensuring each room operates with minimal sound transmission. Tailored sound-reducing wall assemblies, full-lite doors, engineered window systems, and intentional treatment plans deliver clarity, isolation, and precision for tracking and mixing. Each space is mechanically decoupled, allowing multiple rooms to run simultaneously without compromise. For monitoring, both Latifah and Lucas chose Genelec “The Ones” series monitors with GLM calibration to ensure accurate translation and consistency across the entire facility. Natural light and a warm, welcoming aesthetic anchor the visual identity of the studio, reflecting the creative energy and personality of its owners. The result is a highly functional, beautifully crafted space where ideas can move freely and production can happen without limitations.

This 1,000ft² recording and production studio, built in 2021 for producer couple Latifah Alattas and Lucas Morton, was designed as a fully custom creative environment that supports writing, mixing, and collaboration at the highest level. Both Latifah and Lucas are multi-instrumentalists, engineers, and mixers, and the studio reflects the full range of their workflows—visually inspiring, technically precise, and intuitive in every room. The facility was built from the ground up with a strong emphasis on architectural acoustics and plug-and-play connectivity. The layout includes two Control Rooms, multiple isolation booths, and shared common spaces, all tied together with seamless audio integration. No matter where you are in the studio, routing, monitoring, and communication remain effortless and consistent. Behind the aesthetic, the acoustic design is exceptionally robust. Six independent floating-floor systems support the suites, ensuring each room operates with minimal sound transmission. Tailored sound-reducing wall assemblies, full-lite doors, engineered window systems, and intentional treatment plans deliver clarity, isolation, and precision for tracking and mixing. Each space is mechanically decoupled, allowing multiple rooms to run simultaneously without compromise. For monitoring, both Latifah and Lucas chose Genelec “The Ones” series monitors with GLM calibration to ensure accurate translation and consistency across the entire facility. Natural light and a warm, welcoming aesthetic anchor the visual identity of the studio, reflecting the creative energy and personality of its owners. The result is a highly functional, beautifully crafted space where ideas can move freely and production can happen without limitations.