This renovated brick rowhome in Boston’s South End offers a modern aesthetic within a historic structure, creative use of space, exceptional thermal comfort, a reduced carbon footprint, and a passive stream of income. DESIGN PRIORITIES. The goals for the project were clear - design the primary unit to accommodate the family’s modern lifestyle, rework the layout to create a desirable rental unit, improve thermal comfort and introduce a modern aesthetic. We designed the street-level entry as a shared entrance for both the primary and rental unit. The family uses it as their everyday entrance - we planned for bike storage and an open mudroom with bench and shoe storage to facilitate the change from shoes to slippers or bare feet as they enter their home. On the main level, we expanded the kitchen into the dining room to create an eat-in space with generous counter space and storage, as well as a comfortable connection to the living space. The second floor serves as master suite for the couple - a bedroom with a walk-in-closet and ensuite bathroom, and an adjacent study, with refinished original pumpkin pine floors. The upper floor, aside from a guest bedroom, is the child's domain with interconnected spaces for sleeping, work and play. In the play space, which can be separated from the work space with new translucent sliding doors, we incorporated recreational features inspired by adventurous and competitive television shows, at their son’s request. MODERN MEETS TRADITIONAL. We left the historic front facade of the building largely unchanged - the security bars were removed from the windows and the single pane windows were replaced with higher performing historic replicas. We designed the interior and rear facade with a vision of warm modernism, weaving in the notable period features. Each element was either restored or reinterpreted to blend with the modern aesthetic. The detailed ceiling in the living space, for example, has a new matte monochromatic finish, and the wood stairs are covered in a dark grey floor paint, whereas the mahogany doors were simply refinished. New wide plank wood flooring with a neutral finish, floor-to-ceiling casework, and bold splashes of color in wall paint and tile, and oversized high-performance windows (on the rear facade) round out the modern aesthetic. RENTAL INCOME. The existing rowhome was zoned for a 2-family dwelling but included an undesirable, single-floor studio apartment at the garden level with low ceiling heights and questionable emergency egress. In order to increase the quality and quantity of space in the rental unit, we reimagined it as a two-floor, 1 or 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a modern aesthetic, increased ceiling height on the lowest level and provided an in-unit washer/dryer. The apartment was listed with Jackie O'Connor Real Estate and rented immediately, providing the owners with a source of passive income. ENCLOSURE WITH BENEFITS. The homeowners sought a minimal carbon footprint, enabled by their urban location and lifestyle decisions, paired with the benefits of a high-performance home. The extent of the renovation allowed us to implement a deep energy retrofit (DER) to address air tightness, insulation, and high-performance windows. The historic front facade is insulated from the interior, while the rear facade is insulated on the exterior. Together with these building enclosure improvements, we designed an HVAC system comprised of continuous fresh air ventilation, and an efficient, all-electric heating and cooling system to decouple the house from natural gas. This strategy provides optimal thermal comfort and indoor air quality, improved acoustic isolation from street noise and neighbors, as well as a further reduced carbon footprint. We also took measures to prepare the roof for future solar panels, for when the South End neighborhood’s aging electrical infrastructure is upgraded to allow them. URBAN LIVING. The desirable neighborhood location allows the both the homeowners and tenant to walk, bike, and use public transportation to access the city, while each charging their respective plug-in electric cars behind the building to travel greater distances. OVERALL. The understated rowhouse is now ready for another century of urban living, offering the owners comfort and convenience as they live life as an expression of their values. Eric Roth Photo

Living room - eclectic formal living room idea in Salt Lake City with white walls

Our Princeton design build team designed and rebuilt this three car garage to suit the traditional style of the home. A living space was also include above the garage.

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

Photo: Lauren Andersen © 2017 Houzz
Living room - industrial medium tone wood floor and brown floor living room idea in San Francisco with beige walls

Photos by Francis and Francis Photography The Anderson Residence is ‘practically’ a new home in one of Las Vegas midcentury modern neighborhoods McNeil. The house is the current home of Ian Anderson the local Herman Miller dealer and Shanna Anderson of Leeland furniture family. When Ian first introduced CSPA studio to the project it was burned down house. Turns out that the house is a 1960 midcentury modern sister of two homes that was destroyed by arson in a dispute between landlord and tenant. Once inside the burned walls it was quite clear what a wonderful house it once was. Great care was taken to try and restore the house to a similar splendor. The reality is the remodel didn’t involve much of the original house, by the time the fire damage was remediated there wasn’t much left. The renovation includes an additional 1000 SF of office, guest bedroom, laundry, mudroom, guest toilet outdoor shower and a garage. The roof line was raised in order to accommodate a forced air mechanical system, but care was taken to keep the lines long and low (appearing) to match the midcentury modern style. The House is an H-shape. Typically houses of this time period would have small rooms with long narrow hallways. However in this case with the walls burned out one can see from one side of the house to other creating a huge feeling space. It was decided to totally open the East side of the house and make the kitchen which gently spills into the living room and wood burning fireplace the public side. New windows and a huge 16’ sliding door were added all the way around the courtyard so that one can see out and across into the private side. On the west side of the house the long thin hallway is opened up by the windows to the courtyard and the long wall offers an opportunity for a gallery style art display. The long hallway opens to two bedrooms, shared bathroom and master bedroom. The end of the hallway opens to a casual living room and the swimming pool area. The house has no formal dining room but a 15’ custom crafted table by Ian’s sculptor father that is an extension of the kitchen island. The H-shape creates two covered areas, one is the front entry courtyard, fenced in by a Brazilian walnut enclosure and crowned by a steel art installation by Ian’s father. The rear covered courtyard is a breezy spot for chilling out on a hot desert day. The pool was re-finished and a shallow soaking deck added. A new barbeque and covered patio added. Some of the large plant material was salvaged and nursed back to health and a complete new desert landscape was re-installed to bring the exterior to life.

Urban living room photo in Denver

Photo of a large contemporary partial sun backyard stone retaining wall landscape in San Francisco for winter.

This commercial tenant improvement was completed in 2016 for locally based international safe manufacturer and retailer. The improvements focused on representing the company’s deep local roots utilizing barnwood and other traditional materials while also representing its forward thinking vision with the creative use of metals, historical safes and polished concrete. Featuring reclaimed wood walls & trim, concrete floors, Zodiaq Astral Pearl, semi-private cubicles and reclaimed wood barn door. McCandless & Associates Architects Photography by: Farrell Scott

This light-filled two story home packs two bedrooms and two baths into 900 square feet. The careful siting and the double-height space allow for both indoor-outdoor living and long sight-lines. This enhances the feeling of spaciousness in this relatively small home. With a client looking for a high bang for the buck, this home in an up-and-coming West Berkeley neighborhood is sure to thrill the lucky, future tenants.

This remodel of an architect’s Seattle bungalow goes beyond simple renovation. It starts with the idea that, once completed, the house should look as if had been built that way originally. At the same time, it recognizes that the way a house was built in 1926 is not for the way we live today. Architectural pop-outs serve as window seats or garden windows. The living room and dinning room have been opened up to create a larger, more flexible space for living and entertaining. The ceiling in the central vestibule was lifted up through the roof and topped with a skylight that provides daylight to the middle of the house. The broken-down garage in the back was transformed into a light-filled office space that the owner-architect refers to as the “studiolo.” Bosworth raised the roof of the stuidiolo by three feet, making the volume more generous, ensuring that light from the north would not be blocked by the neighboring house and trees, and improving the relationship between the studiolo and the house and courtyard.

www.fuentesdesign.com, www.danecronin.com
Inspiration for a contemporary bathroom remodel in Denver with concrete countertops

Beach style detached two-car garage photo in Other

Living room - farmhouse open concept and formal vinyl floor and beige floor living room idea in Omaha with white walls, a brick fireplace and a standard fireplace

JS Gibson
Hallway - mid-sized cottage dark wood floor and blue floor hallway idea in Charleston with white walls

Karen Melvin Photography
Example of a classic wooden u-shaped staircase design in Minneapolis

This traditional inspired kitchen design features Merillat Masterpiece cabinets in the Verona raised panel door style in the Pebble Grey Paint finish. Kitchen countertops are Cambria Brittanica. Photos courtesy of Felicia Evans Photography.

Example of an eclectic home office design in DC Metro

Example of a small beach style one-story wood exterior home design in Boston