This classic Portland bungalow in the highly desirable Irvington neighborhood was in desperate need of a kitchen update. Aside from tired finishes and cabinets that have seen a full life, the original layout left the family living in a small portion of the kitchen and not taking advantage of the full square footage. The family desired a design that married both the original architectural details of their bungalow with their preference for clean and modern European design. To accomplish this request, APD brought in sleek flat panel custom frameless cabinets filled with smart and strategic accessories to make the most out of every cabinet box, including full height pantry pull-out, spice and utensil pull-outs flanking the cooking zone, a blind corner pull-0ut to avoid loosing items in the hard-to-reach space, trash & recycling pull-0ut disguised to blend with the adjacent three drawers, and a wall cabinet pull-out sized to fit under the support beam spanning the width of the room. For the traditional - we kept the classic moldings around the windows and doors, continued the homes hardwood floors into the new space, incorporated classic school house light fixtures, and swapped out the slider to the back patio in favor for one with divided lights adding to the architectural detail. Matte black granite countertops with handmade black ceramic tile backsplash bridge the gap between the modern and the traditional thanks to their clean lines, high contrast color palette, and textural and artistic details. Opting for a few adjustments to the layout created a space plan that took advantage of the full square footage of the room! In the original layout, the refrigerator was squeezed onto the same wall as the cooking, leaving very little counterspace around the hard working cooking zone along with a significant portion of the room (a previous addition) under-utilized. Relocating the refrigerator increased counterspace and storage while creating a “flow” through the entire room. Luxury Miele and Subzero appliances make this kitchen a chef’s dream! To add to the clean modern look, we opted for an induction cooktop with wall oven directly below … a great alternative to the often used range! Paneling the built-in refrigerator and dishwasher help to calm the overall visual noise of the space, hiding the two hardworking appliances away! This new family kitchen is at once hardworking, sleek, and timeless!

This proposal is for a new two-story home on the vacant heavily wooded lot with an existing 150-foot-long driveway lined by several beautiful oak trees culminating in a behemoth 43-inch oak tree where the driveway meets the main lot. The far end of the driveway terminates in a grove of three 43/40/43-inch redwoods and at the very center of the vacant lot stands a gargantuan V-twin 59-inch redwood tree paired with a “small” 29-inch redwood tree. The owners want to build a beautiful contemporary-styled home for their family that fully enjoys and embraces the mature trees on their cozy 65-foot by 100-foot lot. As with all small, constrained lots, this project’s site design started first with meeting the relatively large parking and car maneuvering requirements. Menlo Park’s Department of Transportation typically requires side-facing garages to have 24-feet of backup space. So that they could give the largest feature redwood tree on site an added four feet (50%) of clearance outside of its critical root zone, the owners agreed to install a vehicle turntable at the end of their driveway to eliminate the extra four feet of space needed to back up and turnaround. This allowed them to pull their garage forward an additional four feet towards the front property line on the panhandle side, drastically reducing the rest of the home’s impact on the gargantuan V-Twin paired redwood tree at the center of the lot. One of the owners has mobility issues, and accordingly, they first sought to design a one-story floor plan that incorporated all their family’s needs including plenty of covered patio and deck space to enjoy our fantastic California weather. But that single-story footprint spread too far into the critical root zones of several of the redwood trees on site, even despite the use of the vehicle turntable. During my interview process with the owners, they made it clear to me that one of their primary concerns is ensuring that the largest trees on site would thrive and become features of their new home after construction is complete. The single-story designs that removed the grove of three huge redwood trees were non-starters, as was the skimpy 5x10 master bath I designed when trying to squeeze the whole house program into an overly compromised single-story design. It was therefore deemed necessary to go with a two-story design despite the owner’s mobility issues. This two-story design has a much more compact ground floor footprint and has no bedrooms downstairs, other than the detached ADU. The owners must give up the floor area and incur the costs to install a residential elevator to access their upstairs master suite. Our ground floor footprint is smaller due to the two-story design decision, and our foundation is pulled away from the trees thanks to the vehicle turntable. Yet, a tiny portion of the home’s ground floor footprint still encroaches into the critical root zones of the largest 59” redwood tree. Therefore, as outlined in the Arborist Report prepared by Aesculus Arboricultural Consulting, the structural engineers are incorporating an array of drilled piers and shallow-grade beams for the main home’s foundation and deck area nearest the redwood’s critical root zone. This drilled piers and grade beam foundation is a type of “bridging” foundation as outlined in Aesculus’ report to preserve the health of these trees that the property was designed around. The rest of the foundation will be constructed as an insulated slab-on-grade foundation to minimize the number of steps and ramps needed for the owners to enjoy their home and patio areas. Despite the owner’s desire to keep as many trees as possible on site, and despite the smaller ground floor footprint and the advantage of the vehicle turntable, the need for a 20x20-foot garage and 20x20/25-foot guest parking space on our panhandle lot requires the removal of two heritage trees in the required driveway, a 16” coast redwood, and a 17” coast redwood. An alternate design, such as swapping the garage and guest parking locations north-to-south, still requires the removal of these two trees for vehicle maneuvering but has the added disadvantage of cutting off the home’s sightlines to the behemoth 43” oak tree just outside the currently proposed front patio space and living room. Jim Redman of Elements Landscape is proposing 13 new trees be planted on site to replace the lost value of these two heritage coast redwood trees. This contemporary architectural design features clean lines, and an abundance of full-height windows and large skylights to best take in the immense trees on site. To blend in with the forest-like setting, the home boasts a mix of rich textures and features a color palette of natural wood tones contrasted with dark blue and black. Once through the new steel gate at the street and down the 150-foot tree-lined driveway, a large covered front patio becomes visible past the neighbor’s detached accessory structure. The covered patio is just across the driveway from the beautiful 43” behemoth coast live oak. The single plane of the covered patio roof is delicately supported by a pair of steel posts in a “V-twin” configuration much like the largest redwood trees that tower over the center of the lot and will still be visible above the new two-story home, even from the front yard. The patio is covered in a dark-colored standing seam roof, with steel C-channel fascias, and tongue-and-groove wood ceiling planks on the underside. Generously sized skylights on the patio roof and inside the living area allow for impressive views of the amazing oak canopy as well as precious natural light. Supporting the sloped covered patio on the other side is the two-car garage with a secondary bedroom suite stacked above the garage. This two-story volume is to be clad in vertical clear-coated redwood siding, to tie in with the grove of three 43-inch redwood trees just beyond. The garage door, and the bank of windows for Bedroom#2 above feature a steel fascia eyebrow header feature to provide shade and overhang protection, as we are not proposing a large overhang at this “redwood trunk”. The garage and bedroom volume are pulled 16 feet away from the side property line, instead of the minimum required setback of 6’-6”, thus leaving plenty of room for the redwood grove and existing mature pear tree to continue to thrive. This existing mature green screen in this 16-foot-wide side yard is a feature worth soaking in, which is why tall windows with low sill heights are proposed for both the stairs and the upstairs hallway. Though it may be infrequent to approve side-facing 2nd floor windows with sill heights as low as what we’re proposing, we are confident that the mature green screen and the over 16-foot-wide side yard are sufficient to provide for the continued privacy of our neighbor’s rear yard space, especially considering theses windows are in walkway zones. The covered patio at the front entry is also bound by the 10-foot-tall living room. The great room is clad in a dark blue brick veneer, which wraps around all three sides of the living room. Upon entering the home from the covered patio, you are immediately greeted with one of the most impressive features of the home’s design: a 10-foot-tall by 24-foot-wide set of sliding glass doors. From the entry, this huge opening gives merely an initial glimpse of the massive trunks of the gargantuan V-twin redwoods sitting at the center of the lot. All three sliding glass panels open directly out into the smaller partially covered deck in the rear. This roof overhang element matches the design of the front patio with a steel C-channel fascia and a large skylight. But the rear deck’s roof element is set flat at a ten-foot ceiling height so that the living room’s ceiling seems to float above and out beyond the expanse of full-height sliding doors, thus creating an indoor-outdoor living space that will feel much larger than the home’s actual footprint. This rear covered deck is smaller than the patio in the front and also has a mix of solid and open-slatted roofing to allow for more solar access for the relatively small amount of open sky available. The downstairs living room is open to the dining and kitchen areas, as well as the stair-and-elevator tower beyond. The stair tower is very open and glassy, and the stairs wind up and around the redwood-clad elevator tower. From certain perspectives in the 16-foot-wide side yard, it will almost seem as if the grove of three redwoods has a fourth tree that the house and the stairs were carefully built around. Other than the 3-foot-wide windows, the exterior walls of the stair tower, downstairs utility spaces, and Bedroom#3 above are finished in cement plaster, painted dark blue and black. The sloped roof over the stair-and-elevator tower continues cleanly over the area of upstairs Bedroom#3. This roof level is set by the side daylight plane and only yields an inside wall height of just under 6 feet in height. The owners are satisfied that the rest of this upstairs room has a nice vaulted ceiling to make up for the one short wall under the daylight plane. The rest of the ground floor adjacent to the stair tower consists of a small utility wing containing a half-bath, laundry, storage area, and an exterior alcove for the electric heat pump HVAC unit. This short wing also gives more accessible access to the rear yard deck, as well as a backdrop for an outdoor kitchen. The bright white stone backsplash for the outdoor kitchen provides contrast to the otherwise consistent use of cement plaster painted dark blue and black for the two-story wing closest to the detached ADU. Though Bedroom#3 is stacked directly above this small wing, it is relatively short to comply with the side daylight plane of this narrow lot. Still, to further help break up the scale of this wall, another steel fascia eyebrow element is set about 8 feet above the rear deck. The master suite sits centered above the ten-foot-tall great room. The master bedroom and its balcony, as well as the master bathtub area, have a commanding view of the central redwood trees and their impressive canopy, though the balcony is mostly recessed and should pose no privacy concerns to the neighbor’s rear yards. The master balcony parapet is clad in the same brick veneer continuing up from the living room below. A dark-painted metal rail makes up the rest of the open guardrail height. The entire length of the master balcony is comprised of 9-foot-tall sliding glass doors, but the area above the doors, as well as the area below the master bathroom windows, is accented with more redwood siding. The remainder of the master suite bathroom and walk-in closet is finished in cement plaster painted dark blue. The master bathroom has one side yard-facing window but will be frosted glass for both the owner’s and the neighbor’s privacy. The 2nd floor is capped under a simple gable roof design with one roof ridge and varying eave and rake overhangs depending on the 2nd-floor layout and solar orientation. Since these roof planes are quite difficult to see in the middle of the heavily wooded panhandle lot, we are proposing a white TPO roofing for these two upper roof planes as a more sustainable choice compared to more dark-colored roofing like the covered patios and detached ADU. The owners also wish to build a detached 292-square-foot Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) as an office and guest suite. For the ADU foundation to be situated outside the central redwood tree’s critical root zone, this relatively tiny structure takes advantage of the narrower 4-foot side and rear setbacks allowed for ADUs smaller than 800 square feet. The small L-shaped detached ADU frames a wonderful quasi-courtyard around the gargantuan V-twin redwoods at the center of the lot. The ADU shares a matching material palette consisting of cement plaster painted blue and black, vertical redwood siding and soffits, and thin brick veneer. The ADU also features large full-height windows. The only difference between the main home and the ADU material palette is that the roofing will be a dark composition shingle roofing since it will be quite visible from the master balcony.

Completed in 2019, this is a home we completed for client who initially engaged us to remodeled their 100 year old classic craftsman bungalow on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill. During our initial conversation, it became readily apparent that their program was much larger than a remodel could accomplish and the conversation quickly turned toward the design of a new structure that could accommodate a growing family, a live-in Nanny, a variety of entertainment options and an enclosed garage – all squeezed onto a compact urban corner lot. Project entitlement took almost a year as the house size dictated that we take advantage of several exceptions in Seattle’s complex zoning code. After several meetings with city planning officials, we finally prevailed in our arguments and ultimately designed a 4 story, 3800 sf house on a 2700 sf lot. The finished product is light and airy with a large, open plan and exposed beams on the main level, 5 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms, 2 powder rooms, 2 fireplaces, 4 climate zones, a huge basement with a home theatre, guest suite, climbing gym, and an underground tavern/wine cellar/man cave. The kitchen has a large island, a walk-in pantry, a small breakfast area and access to a large deck. All of this program is capped by a rooftop deck with expansive views of Seattle’s urban landscape and Lake Union. Unfortunately for our clients, a job relocation to Southern California forced a sale of their dream home a little more than a year after they settled in after a year project. The good news is that in Seattle’s tight housing market, in less than a week they received several full price offers with escalator clauses which allowed them to turn a nice profit on the deal.

Unassuming Storage building? Guess again. This gorgeous custom wine cellar, designed and built by wine cellar design experts, Vintage Cellars, shows that you can outfit virtually any space to be a one of a kind, perfect place for wine storage. Here in Laguna Beach, Orange County California, the temperatures stay pretty nice year round. Through the magic of wine cellar vapor barrier and insulation, the design build team at Vintage Cellars was able to properly prepare this outbuilding to store over 1700 collectible wines. Working closely with the client, we were able to understand that although display is nice - uncompromising long term storage was the overarching goal. Sweeping throughout the room above, individual bottle storage reigns to maximize bottle count. At about chest height, you can see two rows of angled high reveal display. Here, the homeowner placed his prized bottles - just a glimpse of what this incredible collection holds. Directly in the center of this medium sized wine room lies a small peninsula - a small section jetting out where larger format bottles are kept atop, as well as more space below in individual bottle storage. A small tabletop can be utilized to open wines or to let your favorites decant while you peruse the gems throughout. Below again is more individual bottle storage, sitting atop gorgeous Mediterranean style tile. Another unique feature of this wine cellar / wine room / wine storage space / wine closet / wine shed / wine vault / custom wine cellar / custom wine room / custom wood wine cellar / redwood wine cellar is the bridge across the top of the door. Often, this space can be overlooked, but the experts at Vintage Cellars are seasoned in delivering a desired end result. We were able to squeeze in another 100 bottles above the doorframe - and it looks fantastic. This Raw Redwood wooden wine cellar has a recessed cooling unit in the ceiling, with wood paneling behind the racking to add to the pleasing golden hue of the wine racks themselves. Traditional Wine Cellars like this wooden wine cellar in Laguna Beach are common in areas such as Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Newport Beach, San Clemente, Irvine, Crystal Cove, Emerald Bay, Coto De Caza, Corona Del Mar, Huntington Beach and more. With so many different kinds of wine racks / wine racking / wine cellar designs and styles, you can really go in any and every direction in the discovery and design phase of a custom wine cellar project. The Custom wine cellar builder custom wine cellar builders team at Vintage Cellars make the entire process exciting, informative, and smooth from start to finish. Vintage Cellars has built gorgeous custom wine cellars and wine storage rooms across the United States and World for over 32 years. We are your go-to business for anything wine cellar and wine storage related! Whether you're interested in a wine closet, wine racking, custom wine racks, a custom wine cellar door, or a cooling system for your existing space, Vintage Cellars has you covered! We carry all kinds of wine cellar cooling and refrigeration systems, incuding: Breezaire, CellarCool, WhisperKool, Wine Guardian, CellarPro and Commercial systems. We also carry many types of Wine Refrigerators, Wine Cabinets, and wine racking types, including La Cache, Marvel, N'Finity, Transtherm, Vinotheque, Vintage Series, Credenza, Walk in wine rooms, Climadiff, Riedel, Fontenay, and VintageView. Vintage Cellars also does work in many styles, including Contemporary and Modern, Rustic, Farmhouse, Traditional, Craftsman, Industrial, Mediterranean, Mid-Century, Industrial and Eclectic. Some locations we cover often include: Agora Hills, Alameda, Albany, Alhambra, Aliso Viejo, Altadena, Anaheim, Angwin, Arcadia, Aromas, Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Atherton, Avila Beach, Balboa Terrace, Bel Air, Belmont, Belvedere, Benton, Berkeley, Bermuda Dunes, Beverly Hills, Big Sur, Bolinas, Boyle Heights, Bradbury, Bradley, Brea, Brentwood, Bridgeport, Brisbane, Buellton, Buena Park, Burbank, Burlingame, Calabasas, Calistoga, Cambria, Canoga Park, Cardiff, Carlsbad, Carmel, Carmel By The Sea, Carmel Valley, Carnelian Bay, Carpinteria, Casmalia, Castroville, Cathedral City, Cayucos, Chatsworth, Chualar, City of LA, City of SF, Coachella, Coleville, Colma, Corona Del Mar, Coronado, Coronado Island, Corte Madera, Costa Mesa, Coto De Caza, Creston, Crystal Cove, Cupertino, Cypress, Danville, Deer Park, Del Mar, Diablo, Duarte, Eagle Rock, East Palo Alto, East Pasadena, Echo Park, El Granada, El Monte, Emeryville, Encinitas, Encino, Fairfax, Foster City, Fountain Valley, Fremont, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Glendale, Golden Gate Park, Goleta, Gonzales, Granada Hills, Granite Bay, Greenbrae, Greenfield, Grover Beach, Guadalupe, Half Moon Bay, Hancock Park, Harmony, Hidden Hills, Hillsborough, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, Huntington Beach, Indian Wells, Indio, Industry, Inner Richmond, Inverness, Irvine, Jolon, June Lake, Kentfield, King City, La Canada Flintridge, La Habra, La Honda, La Jolla, La Palma, La Quinta, Ladera Heights, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Balboa, Lake Forest, Lake Tahoe, Lake View Terrace, Larkspur, Laurel Canyon, Lee Vining, Lockwood, Lompoc, Long Beach, Los Alamitos, Los Alamos, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Angeles, Los Gatos, Los Olivos, Los Osos, Malibu, Mammoth Lakes, Manhattan Beach, Marin, Marina, Marshall, Mayflower Village, Menlo Park, Mill Valley, Millbrae, Mission Hills, Mission Viejo, Mono, Monrovia, Montara, Montebello, Monterey, Monterey Park, Morro Bay, Moss Beach, Moss Landing, Mountain View, Napa, New Cuyama, Newark, Newport Beach, Newport Coast, Nicasio, Nipomo, North Hills, Northridge, Novato, Oakland, Oakville, Ocean Beach, Oceano, Orange, Orange County, Pacific Grove, Pacific Palisades, Pacoima, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Palo Alto, Palos Verdes, Panorama City, Pasadena, Paso Robles, Pebble Beach, Pescadero, Piedmont, Pismo Beach, Placentia, Point Reyes Station, Pope Valley, Portola Valley, Presidio, Presidio Heights, Rancho Mirage, Rancho Santa Fe, Rancho Santa Margarita, Redondo Beach, Redwood City, Reseda, Rosemead, Russian Cliff, Rutherford, Saint Helena, Salinas, San Anselmo, San Ardo, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Clemente, San Diego, San Fernando, San Francisco, San Gabriel, San Gregorio, San Jose, San Juan Capistrano, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, San Lucas, San Luis Obispo, San Marino, San Mateo, San Miguel, San Rafael, San Simeon, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Clarita, Santa Margarita, Santa Maria, Santa Monica, Santa Ynez, Saratoga, Sausalito, Sea Cliff, Seal Beach, Seaside, Shadow Hills, Shandon, Sherman Oaks, Sierra Madre, Silver Lake, Solana Beach, Soledad, Solvang, Sonoma, South El Monte, South Pasadena, South San Gabriel, Spreckels, Squaw Valley, St Helena, Stanford, Stanton, Stinson Beach, Stough Park, Studio City, Summerland, Sun Valley, Sunland, Sunnyvale, Sylmar, Tahoe City, Tahoe Vista, Tarzana, Temple City, Templeton, Thousand Oaks, Thousand Palms, Tiburon, Toluca Lake, Topanga, Topaz, Torrey Pines, Tujanga, Tustin, Union City, Valencia, Verdugo Mountains, Vernon, Villa Park, Walnut, Walnut Creek, West Puente Valley, Westminster, Westwood, Whittier, Woodside, Yorba Linda, Yountville San Diego Wine Cellars, Rancho Santa Fe Wine Cellars, Beverly Hills Wine Cellars, Bel Air Wine Cellars, Orange County Wine Cellars, Newport Beach Wine Cellars, San Francisco Wine Cellars, Napa Wine Cellars, Sonoma Wine Cellars, Los Angeles Wine Cellars, Santa Barbara Wine Cellars, Palm Desert Wine Cellars, La Jolla Wine Cellars, Del Mar Wine Cellars, Coronado Wine Cellars, Pacific Palisades Wine Cellars, Malibu Wine Cellars, Santa Monica Wine Cellars, Brentwood Wine Cellars, Laguna Wine Cellars, Crystal Cove Wine Cellars, Hollywood Wine Cellars, Bay Area Wine Cellars, South Bay Wine Cellars, LA Wine Cellars, SD Wine Cellars, OC Wine Cellars, SF Wine Cellars, Huntington Beach Wine Cellars, Carlsbad Wine Cellars, Palos Verdes Wine Cellars, Paso Robles Wine Cellars, Encinitas Wine Cellars, Manhattan Beach Wine Cellars, Marin Wine Cellars, Tiburon Wine Cellars, Coto De Caza Wine Cellars, Thousand Oaks Wine Cellars, Cardiff Wine Cellars, RSF Wine Cellars, San Marino Wine Cellars, Ladera Heights Wine Cellars, Westwood Wine Cellars, Hillsborough Wine Cellars, Luxury Wine Cellars, Custom Wine Cellars, High End Wine Cellars, Estate Wine Cellars, Modern Wine Cellars, Contemporary Wine Cellars, Rustic Wine Cellars, Traditional Wine Cellars Contact Vintage Cellars today with any of your Wine Cellar needs! (800) 876-8789 Vintage Cellars 904 Rancheros Drive San Marcos, California 92069 (800) 876-8789 Traditional Shabby Chic Scandanavian Contemporary Modern Beach Desert Transitional Asian Coastal Rustic Mediterranean French Country Farmhouse Eclectic Craftsman Tropical Southwestern

Photo of a tropical landscaping in Tampa.

Alcove shower - mid-sized contemporary master marble floor alcove shower idea in Houston with recessed-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets, gray walls, an undermount sink and marble countertops

Our clients, a vibrant young family with two energetic kids and a playful dog, were feeling the constraints of their outdated, cramped house. The Main Floor was divided by walls, fragmenting the Kitchen, Dining Room, and living areas, making family time and entertaining a bit of a struggle. The Kitchen was small and dim, lacking counter space and storage. The kids' study/play table was squeezed into a tight corner, emphasizing the lack of space. The dark hardwood floors were scratched and worn, and the foyer felt cramped and uninviting. The powder room was also The idea of a major renovation brought both excitement and a bit of anxiety. The couple was unsure about design decisions and worried about the challenges of dealing with structural columns and beams. Collaborating with Sosna designer Camila, the family embarked on a journey to transform their outdated house into a bright, functional home. To open up the space, walls were removed, creating a seamless flow between the foyer, living room, dining room, and kitchen. The kitchen was relocated and expanded to include generous counter space and a large island, providing the ideal spot for the kids to help prepare meals—a task they’ve come to enjoy since the renovation—or work on their homework. Additionally, the addition of a cozy window bench offers extra seating for hanging out with the family. It’s also the perfect place to curl up with a good book. The once dark and gloomy powder room was completely refreshed with new fixtures, a white oak vanity, and beautiful floor tiles, which significantly brightened it up. Additionally, the dark hardwood floors were replaced with a lighter, more modern option, brightening the entire main floor. The renovation wasn't without its hiccups. A mix-up with the hardwood flooring led to a last-minute scramble for a replacement. But in the end, the family fell in love with the new flooring, proving that sometimes unexpected changes can lead to even better outcomes. The renovation completely transformed the home. What was once a cramped and segmented main floor is now a bright, open space perfectly suited to the family's lifestyle. The new kitchen island became the heart of the home, providing a place for the kids to do homework while their parents cooked, fostering a sense of togetherness. The open layout also made hosting gatherings effortless. Throughout the renovation, the kids and their dog brought a playful energy to the construction site, forming a special bond with the crew. Despite the challenges of living through a renovation, the family managed to maintain a sense of normalcy, working from home when possible and appreciating the crew's efforts to keep things tidy. What started as a simple update turned into a full-scale transformation that reflects the family’s needs and personal style. Their willingness to embrace bold design choices, such as blush pink tiles and bright floral patterns, adds a unique touch to the space. And that hardwood flooring mix-up? It turned out to be a happy accident, resulting in a floor they love even more. In the end, this renovation was more than just a home makeover; it was about creating a space that truly feels like home, nurturing family connections, and bringing joy to everyday life.

Rational Kitchens | http://www.rationalkitchens.ca | photo by Levi Wedel http://www.snapsnap.ca

The family's once-loved home had become a source of frustration. Their kitchen, a space meant for gathering and creating, felt cramped and outdated. Limited storage and poor organization made meal prep a tedious task, and entertaining guests a logistical nightmare. The laundry room, often overlooked, was equally problematic. Its cramped layout and lack of storage made laundry day a chore, and the noise of the washing machine echoed through the living room. To compound the issue, the absence of dedicated office spaces made working from home a constant struggle. One makeshift office was squeezed into the dining room, while another was relegated to the basement. The family was hesitant to embark on a major renovation, fearing the challenges and uncertainties that come with such a project. Finding a reliable contractor, ensuring timely completion, and worrying about potential shoddy workmanship were all valid concerns. We understood their anxieties and were committed to providing a smooth and stress-free experience. Our team crafted a design that addressed each of their concerns, transforming their home into a functional and stylish space. We reimagined the laundry room, creating a custom storage solution and incorporating a stackable washer and dryer. The open hallway to the living room was enclosed, creating a spacious closet with ample storage. The laundry room now seamlessly connected to the kitchen, simplifying the grocery unloading process. A former juliette balcony was converted into a dedicated office space, providing a peaceful and productive work-from-home environment. The dated and cluttered ensuite bathroom received a luxurious makeover. A clever pull-out storage system in the shower wall and a spacious niche provided much-needed organization. While every renovation project has its challenges, this one was remarkably smooth. The only significant hurdle was some additional structural work required in the basement to support the new office space. Our experienced team handled this efficiently, minimizing any disruption. The final result is a home that truly reflects the family's personality and lifestyle. The laundry room, now a cheerful and organized space with soft green cabinets, patterned floor tiles, and gold accents, showcases our attention to detail. The kitchen is a stunning centerpiece, featuring a striking combination of blue and white cabinets, dark hardwood floors, and a sleek white backsplash. The adjacent beverage bar, with its glass-fronted upper cabinets, provides an elegant space for entertaining. The ensuite bathroom is a spa-like retreat, with large-format marble tiles, a black vanity, and chrome fixtures creating an atmosphere of understated luxury. The renovation has had a profound impact on the family's daily life. Ample storage throughout the house has banished clutter, making it easier to maintain a tidy home. The seamless flow from the laundry room to the kitchen has streamlined the grocery unloading process, and the dedicated office spaces have transformed the work-from-home experience. Beyond the physical transformation, it was the shared moments and laughter that made this project truly special. The family's enthusiasm and good humor were contagious. One of the clients, with his big personality, even starred in a walk-through video of the finished project, showcasing his infectious joy. From choosing tiles to navigating unexpected challenges, the entire process was filled with warmth and collaboration. Even their four-year-old son, initially shy, warmed up to our site leader, Gus, nicknaming him "Gus the Bus," a moniker that endeared him to the entire team.

Appliance placement is a structural decision, not a finishing one. In this remodel, the refrigerator, double wall oven, and cooktop positions were established during the design phase so that cabinetry, traffic flow, and countertop workspace could be built around them properly. The result is a kitchen where nothing feels squeezed in, because nothing was. Bosch appliances were selected for their performance, their profile depth, and how cleanly they integrate with custom cabinetry.

A complete primary bathroom remodel in Springfield, Virginia, designed around three priorities our clients came in with: a real walk-in shower, a freestanding tub by the windows, and a proper double vanity with storage that actually worked. The original layout had everything in the wrong place. The tub sat against an interior wall away from the natural light. A small stall shower took up real estate across the room. The vanity was squeezed into whatever space was left over. Three windows on the back wall were doing nothing for the room because the layout was fighting them. Our solution involved knocking down the dividing wall between the old shower and vanity area, relocating plumbing for both the tub and the new vanities, and placing the freestanding tub directly under the bay of windows so morning light became part of the experience. Design Approach We anchored the room around contrast: deep navy cabinetry against soft white walls, warm brushed gold against cool marble tile, sharp Shaker lines against the curved silhouette of the freestanding tub. Navy was the design decision the rest of the room was built around — the clients knew they wanted color but didn't want anything that would feel dated in five years. Navy reads bold without being loud, pairs with virtually any metal finish, and has staying power that trendier choices don't. We used Fabuwood Galaxy Indigo for the vanities — all-plywood construction with solid wood doors and drawer fronts, soft close throughout. Shaker-style flat panels keep the navy from feeling heavy. The brushed gold (Jeffrey Alexander 635-96SBZ in satin bronze) shows up across hardware, faucets, lighting, the tub filler, and the shower trim, creating a quiet continuity throughout the room. The Shower Removing the wall between the old shower and old vanity area created room for a proper walk-in. We tiled the entire shower floor to ceiling in Decovita Calacatta Suave 24x48" porcelain — large format installed in a 50% offset horizontal pattern, with cement board and redgard underneath. The marble-look porcelain gives the visual depth of natural marble without the maintenance. A built-in shower bench, custom-built into the corner, is wrapped in the same wall tile on the front with a quartz top matching the vanity counter. The shower niche is detailed with MSI Arabescato Carrara 2" honed hex mosaic at the back, the same tile used on the shower floor. All tile edges are finished with Schluter in satin bronze to match the room's metal finishes. The shower door is custom frameless 3/8" tempered glass with a satin bronze pull — no metal frame interrupting the sight line. The Vanities and Countertops The new double vanity gives both clients their own space for morning routines. Counter tops are MSI Calacatta Miraggio Cielo quartz with pencil edging and a 4" backsplash — a soft white with subtle gray veining that reads like real Calacatta marble without the porosity issues. Two undermount square porcelain sinks finish the surface cleanly. The Tub A 60" freestanding soaker tub sits under the bay of three windows. The floor-mounted tub filler is satin bronze with a handheld sprayer. We relocated the drain and supply lines to make the centered placement work. The tub is the room's quietest feature and its strongest — clients tell us they use this bathroom differently than they used the old one. Flooring MSI Sande Ivory 12x24" matte porcelain runs throughout the bathroom floor in a 50% offset pattern parallel to the vanity wall. Cement board underneath, 4" white wood baseboard, Whisper Grey grout that handles daily use without showing wear. Paint and Lighting Walls are Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace 2121-70 in satin — a true crisp white that doesn't lean cool or warm. The ceiling uses Benjamin Moore Aura Bath and Spa White, which is formulated to resist mildew in high-humidity spaces. Lighting is layered: three new 6" LED recessed lights on a dimmer, two satin bronze vanity sconces above the mirrors, and the existing three windows providing the daytime ambient light. Project Specs Location: Springfield, Virginia Project type: Full primary bathroom remodel Project duration: Approximately 5 weeks Style: Modern, Transitional Color palette: Navy, white, brushed gold, marble Materials Cabinetry: Fabuwood Galaxy Indigo, Shaker-style flat panel maple, all-plywood construction Cabinet hardware: Jeffrey Alexander 635-96SBZ Satin Bronze pulls Vanity counter and bench top: MSI Calacatta Miraggio Cielo Quartz, pencil edge with 4" backsplash Sinks: Undermount white porcelain BR-202 square (x2) Wall tile: Decovita Calacatta Suave 24x48" porcelain Floor tile: MSI Sande Ivory 12x24" matte porcelain Shower floor + niche back: MSI Arabescato Carrara 2" honed hex mosaic marble Edge trim: Schluter satin bronze Shower door: Custom frameless 3/8" tempered glass Tub: 60" freestanding acrylic soaker (Ferguson) Tub filler: Floor-mounted satin bronze (Ferguson) Vanity faucets, mirrors, sconces, toilet: Satin bronze coordinated finishes (Ferguson) Wall paint: Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace 2121-70 Satin Ceiling paint: Benjamin Moore Aura Bath and Spa White Grout: Whisper Grey (floor), Standard White (walls and shower) Designed and built by My Kitchen and Bath out of our Alexandria showroom at 5710 General Washington Drive. We've been designing and building kitchens, bathrooms, and full home renovations across Northern Virginia and the DMV since 1994.

We were able to squeeze in this ensuite bath on the second floor. One small bath for Man, one giant leap for domestic tranquility.
Inspiration for a transitional bathroom remodel in Bridgeport

This proposal is for a new two-story home on the vacant heavily wooded lot with an existing 150-foot-long driveway lined by several beautiful oak trees culminating in a behemoth 43-inch oak tree where the driveway meets the main lot. The far end of the driveway terminates in a grove of three 43/40/43-inch redwoods and at the very center of the vacant lot stands a gargantuan V-twin 59-inch redwood tree paired with a “small” 29-inch redwood tree. The owners want to build a beautiful contemporary-styled home for their family that fully enjoys and embraces the mature trees on their cozy 65-foot by 100-foot lot. As with all small, constrained lots, this project’s site design started first with meeting the relatively large parking and car maneuvering requirements. Menlo Park’s Department of Transportation typically requires side-facing garages to have 24-feet of backup space. So that they could give the largest feature redwood tree on site an added four feet (50%) of clearance outside of its critical root zone, the owners agreed to install a vehicle turntable at the end of their driveway to eliminate the extra four feet of space needed to back up and turnaround. This allowed them to pull their garage forward an additional four feet towards the front property line on the panhandle side, drastically reducing the rest of the home’s impact on the gargantuan V-Twin paired redwood tree at the center of the lot. One of the owners has mobility issues, and accordingly, they first sought to design a one-story floor plan that incorporated all their family’s needs including plenty of covered patio and deck space to enjoy our fantastic California weather. But that single-story footprint spread too far into the critical root zones of several of the redwood trees on site, even despite the use of the vehicle turntable. During my interview process with the owners, they made it clear to me that one of their primary concerns is ensuring that the largest trees on site would thrive and become features of their new home after construction is complete. The single-story designs that removed the grove of three huge redwood trees were non-starters, as was the skimpy 5x10 master bath I designed when trying to squeeze the whole house program into an overly compromised single-story design. It was therefore deemed necessary to go with a two-story design despite the owner’s mobility issues. This two-story design has a much more compact ground floor footprint and has no bedrooms downstairs, other than the detached ADU. The owners must give up the floor area and incur the costs to install a residential elevator to access their upstairs master suite. Our ground floor footprint is smaller due to the two-story design decision, and our foundation is pulled away from the trees thanks to the vehicle turntable. Yet, a tiny portion of the home’s ground floor footprint still encroaches into the critical root zones of the largest 59” redwood tree. Therefore, as outlined in the Arborist Report prepared by Aesculus Arboricultural Consulting, the structural engineers are incorporating an array of drilled piers and shallow-grade beams for the main home’s foundation and deck area nearest the redwood’s critical root zone. This drilled piers and grade beam foundation is a type of “bridging” foundation as outlined in Aesculus’ report to preserve the health of these trees that the property was designed around. The rest of the foundation will be constructed as an insulated slab-on-grade foundation to minimize the number of steps and ramps needed for the owners to enjoy their home and patio areas. Despite the owner’s desire to keep as many trees as possible on site, and despite the smaller ground floor footprint and the advantage of the vehicle turntable, the need for a 20x20-foot garage and 20x20/25-foot guest parking space on our panhandle lot requires the removal of two heritage trees in the required driveway, a 16” coast redwood, and a 17” coast redwood. An alternate design, such as swapping the garage and guest parking locations north-to-south, still requires the removal of these two trees for vehicle maneuvering but has the added disadvantage of cutting off the home’s sightlines to the behemoth 43” oak tree just outside the currently proposed front patio space and living room. Jim Redman of Elements Landscape is proposing 13 new trees be planted on site to replace the lost value of these two heritage coast redwood trees. This contemporary architectural design features clean lines, and an abundance of full-height windows and large skylights to best take in the immense trees on site. To blend in with the forest-like setting, the home boasts a mix of rich textures and features a color palette of natural wood tones contrasted with dark blue and black. Once through the new steel gate at the street and down the 150-foot tree-lined driveway, a large covered front patio becomes visible past the neighbor’s detached accessory structure. The covered patio is just across the driveway from the beautiful 43” behemoth coast live oak. The single plane of the covered patio roof is delicately supported by a pair of steel posts in a “V-twin” configuration much like the largest redwood trees that tower over the center of the lot and will still be visible above the new two-story home, even from the front yard. The patio is covered in a dark-colored standing seam roof, with steel C-channel fascias, and tongue-and-groove wood ceiling planks on the underside. Generously sized skylights on the patio roof and inside the living area allow for impressive views of the amazing oak canopy as well as precious natural light. Supporting the sloped covered patio on the other side is the two-car garage with a secondary bedroom suite stacked above the garage. This two-story volume is to be clad in vertical clear-coated redwood siding, to tie in with the grove of three 43-inch redwood trees just beyond. The garage door, and the bank of windows for Bedroom#2 above feature a steel fascia eyebrow header feature to provide shade and overhang protection, as we are not proposing a large overhang at this “redwood trunk”. The garage and bedroom volume are pulled 16 feet away from the side property line, instead of the minimum required setback of 6’-6”, thus leaving plenty of room for the redwood grove and existing mature pear tree to continue to thrive. This existing mature green screen in this 16-foot-wide side yard is a feature worth soaking in, which is why tall windows with low sill heights are proposed for both the stairs and the upstairs hallway. Though it may be infrequent to approve side-facing 2nd floor windows with sill heights as low as what we’re proposing, we are confident that the mature green screen and the over 16-foot-wide side yard are sufficient to provide for the continued privacy of our neighbor’s rear yard space, especially considering theses windows are in walkway zones. The covered patio at the front entry is also bound by the 10-foot-tall living room. The great room is clad in a dark blue brick veneer, which wraps around all three sides of the living room. Upon entering the home from the covered patio, you are immediately greeted with one of the most impressive features of the home’s design: a 10-foot-tall by 24-foot-wide set of sliding glass doors. From the entry, this huge opening gives merely an initial glimpse of the massive trunks of the gargantuan V-twin redwoods sitting at the center of the lot. All three sliding glass panels open directly out into the smaller partially covered deck in the rear. This roof overhang element matches the design of the front patio with a steel C-channel fascia and a large skylight. But the rear deck’s roof element is set flat at a ten-foot ceiling height so that the living room’s ceiling seems to float above and out beyond the expanse of full-height sliding doors, thus creating an indoor-outdoor living space that will feel much larger than the home’s actual footprint. This rear covered deck is smaller than the patio in the front and also has a mix of solid and open-slatted roofing to allow for more solar access for the relatively small amount of open sky available. The downstairs living room is open to the dining and kitchen areas, as well as the stair-and-elevator tower beyond. The stair tower is very open and glassy, and the stairs wind up and around the redwood-clad elevator tower. From certain perspectives in the 16-foot-wide side yard, it will almost seem as if the grove of three redwoods has a fourth tree that the house and the stairs were carefully built around. Other than the 3-foot-wide windows, the exterior walls of the stair tower, downstairs utility spaces, and Bedroom#3 above are finished in cement plaster, painted dark blue and black. The sloped roof over the stair-and-elevator tower continues cleanly over the area of upstairs Bedroom#3. This roof level is set by the side daylight plane and only yields an inside wall height of just under 6 feet in height. The owners are satisfied that the rest of this upstairs room has a nice vaulted ceiling to make up for the one short wall under the daylight plane. The rest of the ground floor adjacent to the stair tower consists of a small utility wing containing a half-bath, laundry, storage area, and an exterior alcove for the electric heat pump HVAC unit. This short wing also gives more accessible access to the rear yard deck, as well as a backdrop for an outdoor kitchen. The bright white stone backsplash for the outdoor kitchen provides contrast to the otherwise consistent use of cement plaster painted dark blue and black for the two-story wing closest to the detached ADU. Though Bedroom#3 is stacked directly above this small wing, it is relatively short to comply with the side daylight plane of this narrow lot. Still, to further help break up the scale of this wall, another steel fascia eyebrow element is set about 8 feet above the rear deck. The master suite sits centered above the ten-foot-tall great room. The master bedroom and its balcony, as well as the master bathtub area, have a commanding view of the central redwood trees and their impressive canopy, though the balcony is mostly recessed and should pose no privacy concerns to the neighbor’s rear yards. The master balcony parapet is clad in the same brick veneer continuing up from the living room below. A dark-painted metal rail makes up the rest of the open guardrail height. The entire length of the master balcony is comprised of 9-foot-tall sliding glass doors, but the area above the doors, as well as the area below the master bathroom windows, is accented with more redwood siding. The remainder of the master suite bathroom and walk-in closet is finished in cement plaster painted dark blue. The master bathroom has one side yard-facing window but will be frosted glass for both the owner’s and the neighbor’s privacy. The 2nd floor is capped under a simple gable roof design with one roof ridge and varying eave and rake overhangs depending on the 2nd-floor layout and solar orientation. Since these roof planes are quite difficult to see in the middle of the heavily wooded panhandle lot, we are proposing a white TPO roofing for these two upper roof planes as a more sustainable choice compared to more dark-colored roofing like the covered patios and detached ADU. The owners also wish to build a detached 292-square-foot Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) as an office and guest suite. For the ADU foundation to be situated outside the central redwood tree’s critical root zone, this relatively tiny structure takes advantage of the narrower 4-foot side and rear setbacks allowed for ADUs smaller than 800 square feet. The small L-shaped detached ADU frames a wonderful quasi-courtyard around the gargantuan V-twin redwoods at the center of the lot. The ADU shares a matching material palette consisting of cement plaster painted blue and black, vertical redwood siding and soffits, and thin brick veneer. The ADU also features large full-height windows. The only difference between the main home and the ADU material palette is that the roofing will be a dark composition shingle roofing since it will be quite visible from the master balcony.

Tim & Elissa have a beautiful home in the most desirable Wyomissing neighborhood. Broad sidewalks under stately oaks, with nearby parks makes it a perfect place to raise a growing family. But their 2-bedroom mid-century rancher was becoming a squeeze. They asked Spring Creek Design to come up with a cost-effective solution to their space problem, while also tackling some of the home’s aged infrastructure. Design Criteria: - Increase living space by adding a new 2nd storey Master Suite. - Enhance livability with an open floorplan on the first floor. - Improve the connection to the outdoors. - Update basics systems with new windows, HVAC and insulation. - Update interior with paint & refinished floors. Special Features: - Bright, mid-century modern design is true to the home’s vintage. - Custom steel cable railings at both stairways. - New open plan creates strong connections between kitchen, living room, dining room and deck. - High-performance Pella windows throughout, including a new triple-panel slider to the deck.

This proposal is for a new two-story home on the vacant heavily wooded lot with an existing 150-foot-long driveway lined by several beautiful oak trees culminating in a behemoth 43-inch oak tree where the driveway meets the main lot. The far end of the driveway terminates in a grove of three 43/40/43-inch redwoods and at the very center of the vacant lot stands a gargantuan V-twin 59-inch redwood tree paired with a “small” 29-inch redwood tree. The owners want to build a beautiful contemporary-styled home for their family that fully enjoys and embraces the mature trees on their cozy 65-foot by 100-foot lot. As with all small, constrained lots, this project’s site design started first with meeting the relatively large parking and car maneuvering requirements. Menlo Park’s Department of Transportation typically requires side-facing garages to have 24-feet of backup space. So that they could give the largest feature redwood tree on site an added four feet (50%) of clearance outside of its critical root zone, the owners agreed to install a vehicle turntable at the end of their driveway to eliminate the extra four feet of space needed to back up and turnaround. This allowed them to pull their garage forward an additional four feet towards the front property line on the panhandle side, drastically reducing the rest of the home’s impact on the gargantuan V-Twin paired redwood tree at the center of the lot. One of the owners has mobility issues, and accordingly, they first sought to design a one-story floor plan that incorporated all their family’s needs including plenty of covered patio and deck space to enjoy our fantastic California weather. But that single-story footprint spread too far into the critical root zones of several of the redwood trees on site, even despite the use of the vehicle turntable. During my interview process with the owners, they made it clear to me that one of their primary concerns is ensuring that the largest trees on site would thrive and become features of their new home after construction is complete. The single-story designs that removed the grove of three huge redwood trees were non-starters, as was the skimpy 5x10 master bath I designed when trying to squeeze the whole house program into an overly compromised single-story design. It was therefore deemed necessary to go with a two-story design despite the owner’s mobility issues. This two-story design has a much more compact ground floor footprint and has no bedrooms downstairs, other than the detached ADU. The owners must give up the floor area and incur the costs to install a residential elevator to access their upstairs master suite. Our ground floor footprint is smaller due to the two-story design decision, and our foundation is pulled away from the trees thanks to the vehicle turntable. Yet, a tiny portion of the home’s ground floor footprint still encroaches into the critical root zones of the largest 59” redwood tree. Therefore, as outlined in the Arborist Report prepared by Aesculus Arboricultural Consulting, the structural engineers are incorporating an array of drilled piers and shallow-grade beams for the main home’s foundation and deck area nearest the redwood’s critical root zone. This drilled piers and grade beam foundation is a type of “bridging” foundation as outlined in Aesculus’ report to preserve the health of these trees that the property was designed around. The rest of the foundation will be constructed as an insulated slab-on-grade foundation to minimize the number of steps and ramps needed for the owners to enjoy their home and patio areas. Despite the owner’s desire to keep as many trees as possible on site, and despite the smaller ground floor footprint and the advantage of the vehicle turntable, the need for a 20x20-foot garage and 20x20/25-foot guest parking space on our panhandle lot requires the removal of two heritage trees in the required driveway, a 16” coast redwood, and a 17” coast redwood. An alternate design, such as swapping the garage and guest parking locations north-to-south, still requires the removal of these two trees for vehicle maneuvering but has the added disadvantage of cutting off the home’s sightlines to the behemoth 43” oak tree just outside the currently proposed front patio space and living room. Jim Redman of Elements Landscape is proposing 13 new trees be planted on site to replace the lost value of these two heritage coast redwood trees. This contemporary architectural design features clean lines, and an abundance of full-height windows and large skylights to best take in the immense trees on site. To blend in with the forest-like setting, the home boasts a mix of rich textures and features a color palette of natural wood tones contrasted with dark blue and black. Once through the new steel gate at the street and down the 150-foot tree-lined driveway, a large covered front patio becomes visible past the neighbor’s detached accessory structure. The covered patio is just across the driveway from the beautiful 43” behemoth coast live oak. The single plane of the covered patio roof is delicately supported by a pair of steel posts in a “V-twin” configuration much like the largest redwood trees that tower over the center of the lot and will still be visible above the new two-story home, even from the front yard. The patio is covered in a dark-colored standing seam roof, with steel C-channel fascias, and tongue-and-groove wood ceiling planks on the underside. Generously sized skylights on the patio roof and inside the living area allow for impressive views of the amazing oak canopy as well as precious natural light. Supporting the sloped covered patio on the other side is the two-car garage with a secondary bedroom suite stacked above the garage. This two-story volume is to be clad in vertical clear-coated redwood siding, to tie in with the grove of three 43-inch redwood trees just beyond. The garage door, and the bank of windows for Bedroom#2 above feature a steel fascia eyebrow header feature to provide shade and overhang protection, as we are not proposing a large overhang at this “redwood trunk”. The garage and bedroom volume are pulled 16 feet away from the side property line, instead of the minimum required setback of 6’-6”, thus leaving plenty of room for the redwood grove and existing mature pear tree to continue to thrive. This existing mature green screen in this 16-foot-wide side yard is a feature worth soaking in, which is why tall windows with low sill heights are proposed for both the stairs and the upstairs hallway. Though it may be infrequent to approve side-facing 2nd floor windows with sill heights as low as what we’re proposing, we are confident that the mature green screen and the over 16-foot-wide side yard are sufficient to provide for the continued privacy of our neighbor’s rear yard space, especially considering theses windows are in walkway zones. The covered patio at the front entry is also bound by the 10-foot-tall living room. The great room is clad in a dark blue brick veneer, which wraps around all three sides of the living room. Upon entering the home from the covered patio, you are immediately greeted with one of the most impressive features of the home’s design: a 10-foot-tall by 24-foot-wide set of sliding glass doors. From the entry, this huge opening gives merely an initial glimpse of the massive trunks of the gargantuan V-twin redwoods sitting at the center of the lot. All three sliding glass panels open directly out into the smaller partially covered deck in the rear. This roof overhang element matches the design of the front patio with a steel C-channel fascia and a large skylight. But the rear deck’s roof element is set flat at a ten-foot ceiling height so that the living room’s ceiling seems to float above and out beyond the expanse of full-height sliding doors, thus creating an indoor-outdoor living space that will feel much larger than the home’s actual footprint. This rear covered deck is smaller than the patio in the front and also has a mix of solid and open-slatted roofing to allow for more solar access for the relatively small amount of open sky available. The downstairs living room is open to the dining and kitchen areas, as well as the stair-and-elevator tower beyond. The stair tower is very open and glassy, and the stairs wind up and around the redwood-clad elevator tower. From certain perspectives in the 16-foot-wide side yard, it will almost seem as if the grove of three redwoods has a fourth tree that the house and the stairs were carefully built around. Other than the 3-foot-wide windows, the exterior walls of the stair tower, downstairs utility spaces, and Bedroom#3 above are finished in cement plaster, painted dark blue and black. The sloped roof over the stair-and-elevator tower continues cleanly over the area of upstairs Bedroom#3. This roof level is set by the side daylight plane and only yields an inside wall height of just under 6 feet in height. The owners are satisfied that the rest of this upstairs room has a nice vaulted ceiling to make up for the one short wall under the daylight plane. The rest of the ground floor adjacent to the stair tower consists of a small utility wing containing a half-bath, laundry, storage area, and an exterior alcove for the electric heat pump HVAC unit. This short wing also gives more accessible access to the rear yard deck, as well as a backdrop for an outdoor kitchen. The bright white stone backsplash for the outdoor kitchen provides contrast to the otherwise consistent use of cement plaster painted dark blue and black for the two-story wing closest to the detached ADU. Though Bedroom#3 is stacked directly above this small wing, it is relatively short to comply with the side daylight plane of this narrow lot. Still, to further help break up the scale of this wall, another steel fascia eyebrow element is set about 8 feet above the rear deck. The master suite sits centered above the ten-foot-tall great room. The master bedroom and its balcony, as well as the master bathtub area, have a commanding view of the central redwood trees and their impressive canopy, though the balcony is mostly recessed and should pose no privacy concerns to the neighbor’s rear yards. The master balcony parapet is clad in the same brick veneer continuing up from the living room below. A dark-painted metal rail makes up the rest of the open guardrail height. The entire length of the master balcony is comprised of 9-foot-tall sliding glass doors, but the area above the doors, as well as the area below the master bathroom windows, is accented with more redwood siding. The remainder of the master suite bathroom and walk-in closet is finished in cement plaster painted dark blue. The master bathroom has one side yard-facing window but will be frosted glass for both the owner’s and the neighbor’s privacy. The 2nd floor is capped under a simple gable roof design with one roof ridge and varying eave and rake overhangs depending on the 2nd-floor layout and solar orientation. Since these roof planes are quite difficult to see in the middle of the heavily wooded panhandle lot, we are proposing a white TPO roofing for these two upper roof planes as a more sustainable choice compared to more dark-colored roofing like the covered patios and detached ADU. The owners also wish to build a detached 292-square-foot Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) as an office and guest suite. For the ADU foundation to be situated outside the central redwood tree’s critical root zone, this relatively tiny structure takes advantage of the narrower 4-foot side and rear setbacks allowed for ADUs smaller than 800 square feet. The small L-shaped detached ADU frames a wonderful quasi-courtyard around the gargantuan V-twin redwoods at the center of the lot. The ADU shares a matching material palette consisting of cement plaster painted blue and black, vertical redwood siding and soffits, and thin brick veneer. The ADU also features large full-height windows. The only difference between the main home and the ADU material palette is that the roofing will be a dark composition shingle roofing since it will be quite visible from the master balcony.

This beautiful home is an example of what can be achieved on a small lot. Interactive Construction was able to provide these homeowners with a Passive House that fit perfectly into their heritage neighbourhood, onto their narrow lot, and with their personalities. There are huge energy savings built into the design of this home. In keeping with Passive House principles, the house is insulated everywhere to minimize heat loss meaning this house doesn’t require a conventional heat source. There is an extremely efficient Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) system that quietly manages airflow throughout the building and takes the heat from showers and cooking before expelling cool, filtered air. Triple glazed windows cut down on heat loss and are almost all openable to aid in cooling instead of a costly air conditioner. Environmental considerations in this build go beyond energy savings. The decision to use prefabricated wall panels and roof trusses to cut down on waste and aid in site storage of lumber. This house’s innovation comes from it being a modern design passive house that it somehow fits very well in a neighbourhood filled with heritage houses. We managed to squeeze a lot of house onto a postage sized lot and still have it feel roomy inside and in the yard. And check out those funky stairs! What the homeowners had to say: Despite the huge and unforeseen challenges of building safely and efficiently during the 2020 Covid pandemic, especially on a very narrow lot, Interactive's exceptional crew and their team of skilled subcontractors delivered our dream house.

Completed in 2019, this is a home we completed for client who initially engaged us to remodeled their 100 year old classic craftsman bungalow on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill. During our initial conversation, it became readily apparent that their program was much larger than a remodel could accomplish and the conversation quickly turned toward the design of a new structure that could accommodate a growing family, a live-in Nanny, a variety of entertainment options and an enclosed garage – all squeezed onto a compact urban corner lot. Project entitlement took almost a year as the house size dictated that we take advantage of several exceptions in Seattle’s complex zoning code. After several meetings with city planning officials, we finally prevailed in our arguments and ultimately designed a 4 story, 3800 sf house on a 2700 sf lot. The finished product is light and airy with a large, open plan and exposed beams on the main level, 5 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms, 2 powder rooms, 2 fireplaces, 4 climate zones, a huge basement with a home theatre, guest suite, climbing gym, and an underground tavern/wine cellar/man cave. The kitchen has a large island, a walk-in pantry, a small breakfast area and access to a large deck. All of this program is capped by a rooftop deck with expansive views of Seattle’s urban landscape and Lake Union. Unfortunately for our clients, a job relocation to Southern California forced a sale of their dream home a little more than a year after they settled in after a year project. The good news is that in Seattle’s tight housing market, in less than a week they received several full price offers with escalator clauses which allowed them to turn a nice profit on the deal.

This airy open concept living room is inside a high performance home that is powered by 100% solar energy. The windows are European style tilt turn triple paned Logic windows from Pinnacle Window Solutions. While they let in tons of natural light they also keep the space warm and free of drafts. The flooring is Pacific grade ash, cabinets are red alder, living room tables are cherry, and the bar stool is Thos. Moser. The wood stove is a high efficiency Rais Q-Tee II.