A long time client approached us in 2015 to renovate the 1926 three-story Mediterranean revival house her parents had purchased so that the family could spend time together during their trips from China to the US. What started as a “quick” renovation turned into a complete transformation; we created a space that’s flexible enough to accommodate everyone from small children to grandparents but still cozy enough to feel like home.
Our complete renovation removed the kitschy influence of a 1985 renovation that had added a bay window and covered some of the house’s original fenestration. Once revealed, the home’s original arched windows provided curved forms to influence the home’s furniture and finishes. Inside, our reconfiguration of the home’s vertical circulation unfolds as a new glass-walled and sky-lit central stair, wrapping around a double height half-bath, showering the main floor in diffused light.
The home’s furniture and finishes are purposefully neutral in tone, highlighting transitions with subtle changes in color, texture, and materials, inspired from nature as viewed from within the home. The play between architecture and interiors produces the simultaneous feelings of participation with the elements and total protection from them. This house is delicately finished, almost polished, but not untouchable; able to adapt through time to the family’s needs.
