Front Elevation
Traditional exterior home idea in New York

The new billiard area is spacious for a gathering of friends and family. Built in cabinetry is plentiful for storage and the new staircase adds a beautiful entry into the newly designed space featuring the one of a kind stainless and copper pool table.

Large mountain style backyard stone patio photo in Sacramento with a fire pit and no cover

This modern green home offers both a vacation destination on Cape Cod near local family members and an opportunity for rental income. FAMILY ROOTS. A West Coast couple living in the San Francisco Bay Area sought a permanent East Coast vacation home near family members living on Cape Cod. As academic professionals focused on sustainability, they sought a green, energy efficient home that was well-aligned with their values. With no green homes available for sale on Cape Cod, they decided to purchase land near their family and build their own. SLOPED SITE. Comprised of a 3/4 acre lot nestled in the pines, the steeply sloping terrain called for a plan that embraced and took advantage of the slope. Of equal priority was optimizing solar exposure, preserving privacy from abutters, and creating outdoor living space. The design accomplished these goals with a simple, rectilinear form, offering living space on the both entry and lower/basement levels. The stepped foundation allows for a walk-out basement level with light-filled living space on the down-hill side of the home. The traditional basement on the eastern, up-hill side houses mechanical equipment and a home gym. The house welcomes natural light throughout, captures views of the forest, and delivers entertainment space that connects indoor living space to outdoor deck and dining patio. MODERN VISION. The clean building form and uncomplicated finishes pay homage to the modern architectural legacy on the outer Cape. Durable and economical fiber cement panels, fixed with aluminum channels, clad the primary form. Cedar clapboards provide a visual accent at the south-facing living room, which extends a single roof plane to cover the entry porch. SMART USE OF SPACE. On the entry level, the “L”-shaped living, dining, and kitchen space connects to the exterior living, dining, and grilling spaces to effectively double the home’s summertime entertainment area. Placed at the western end of the entry level (where it can retain privacy but still claim expansive downhill views) is the master suite with a built-in study. The lower level has two guest bedrooms, a second full bathroom, and laundry. The flexibility of the space—crucial in a house with a modest footprint—emerges in one of the guest bedrooms, which doubles as home office by opening the barn-style double doors to connect it to the bright, airy open stair leading up to the entry level. Thoughtful design, generous ceiling heights and large windows transform the modest 1,100 sf* footprint into a well-lit, spacious home. *(total finished space is 1800 sf) RENTAL INCOME. The property works for its owners by netting rental income when the owners are home in San Francisco. The house especially caters to vacationers bound for nearby Mayo Beach and includes an outdoor shower adjacent to the lower level entry door. In contrast to the bare bones cottages that are typically available on the Cape, this home offers prospective tenants a modern aesthetic, paired with luxurious and green features. Durable finishes inside and out will ensure longevity with the heavier use that comes with a rental property. COMFORT YEAR-ROUND. The home is super-insulated and air-tight, with mechanical ventilation to provide continuous fresh air from the outside. High performance triple-paned windows complement the building enclosure and maximize passive solar gain while ensuring a warm, draft-free winter, even when sitting close to the glass. A properly sized air source heat pump offers efficient heating & cooling, and includes a carefully designed the duct distribution system to provide even comfort throughout the house. The super-insulated envelope allows us to significantly reduce the equipment capacity, duct size, and airflow quantities, while maintaining unparalleled thermal comfort. ENERGY EFFICIENT. The building’s shell and mechanical systems play instrumental roles in the home’s exceptional performance. The building enclosure reduces the most significant energy glutton: heating. Continuous super-insulation, thorough air sealing, triple-pane windows, and passive solar gain work together to yield a miniscule heating load. All active energy consumers are extremely efficient: an air source heat pump for heating and cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation (ERV), and high efficiency appliances. The result is a home that uses 70% less energy than a similar new home built to code requirements. OVERALL. The home embodies the owners’ goals and values while comprehensively enabling thermal comfort, energy efficiency, a vacation respite, and supplementary income. PROJECT TEAM ZeroEnergy Design - Architect & Mechanical Designer A.F. Hultin & Co. - Contractor Pamet Valley Landscape Design - Landscape & Masonry Lisa Finch - Original Artwork European Architectural Supply - Windows Eric Roth Photography - Photography

Inspiration for a mid-sized timeless front door remodel in Orange County with a medium wood front door

Example of a mid-sized beach style slate floor and blue floor front door design in Orange County with white walls and a medium wood front door

Example of a trendy gray floor mudroom design in Providence

The layout of this colonial-style house lacked the open, coastal feel the homeowners wanted for their summer retreat. Siemasko + Verbridge worked with the homeowners to understand their goals and priorities: gourmet kitchen; open first floor with casual, connected lounging and entertaining spaces; an out-of-the-way area for laundry and a powder room; a home office; and overall, give the home a lighter and more “airy” feel. SV’s design team reprogrammed the first floor to successfully achieve these goals. SV relocated the kitchen to what had been an underutilized family room and moved the dining room to the location of the existing kitchen. This shift allowed for better alignment with the existing living spaces and improved flow through the rooms. The existing powder room and laundry closet, which opened directly into the dining room, were moved and are now tucked in a lower traffic area that connects the garage entrance to the kitchen. A new entry closet and home office were incorporated into the front of the house to define a well-proportioned entry space with a view of the new kitchen. By making use of the existing cathedral ceilings, adding windows in key locations, removing very few walls, and introducing a lighter color palette with contemporary materials, this summer cottage now exudes the light and airiness this home was meant to have. © Dan Cutrona Photography

North Elevation photography by Sam Oberter
Inspiration for a large victorian gray three-story vinyl gable roof remodel in New York with a metal roof

Gorgeous pink bathroom featuring Kohler's Jacquard tailored vanity.
Inspiration for a huge contemporary master pink tile marble floor alcove shower remodel in Milwaukee with a vessel sink, flat-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets, quartz countertops and pink walls

Kimberly Gavin: kgavinphotography.com
Mountain style front door photo in Denver with a medium wood front door

Photography by Corey Gaffer
Mid-sized scandinavian blue two-story concrete fiberboard exterior home idea in Minneapolis

Mudroom - mid-sized rustic brick floor and red floor mudroom idea in Minneapolis with beige walls

ansel olson
Transitional medium tone wood floor hallway photo in Richmond with beige walls

George Oakley
Trendy staircase photo in Salt Lake City

Example of a trendy bathroom design in San Francisco

Graced with an abundance of windows, Alexandria’s modern meets traditional exterior boasts stylish stone accents, interesting rooflines and a pillared and welcoming porch. You’ll never lack for style or sunshine in this inspired transitional design perfect for a growing family. The timeless design merges a variety of classic architectural influences and fits perfectly into any neighborhood. A farmhouse feel can be seen in the exterior’s peaked roof, while the shingled accents reference the ever-popular Craftsman style. Inside, an abundance of windows flood the open-plan interior with light. Beyond the custom front door with its eye-catching sidelights is 2,350 square feet of living space on the first level, with a central foyer leading to a large kitchen and walk-in pantry, adjacent 14 by 16-foot hearth room and spacious living room with a natural fireplace. Also featured is a dining area and convenient home management center perfect for keeping your family life organized on the floor plan’s right side and a private study on the left, which lead to two patios, one covered and one open-air. Private spaces are concentrated on the 1,800-square-foot second level, where a large master suite invites relaxation and rest and includes built-ins, a master bath with double vanity and two walk-in closets. Also upstairs is a loft, laundry and two additional family bedrooms as well as 400 square foot of attic storage. The approximately 1,500-square-foot lower level features a 15 by 24-foot family room, a guest bedroom, billiards and refreshment area, and a 15 by 26-foot home theater perfect for movie nights. Photographer: Ashley Avila Photography

The clients for this project approached SALA ‘to create a house that we will be excited to come home to’. Having lived in their house for over 20 years, they chose to stay connected to their neighborhood, and accomplish their goals by extensively remodeling their existing split-entry home.

Master bath adorned in marble and mirror and glass for pure relaxation of all senses.
Inspiration for a coastal bathroom remodel in Boston with white cabinets