Part One: Overhaulin' (The Home Edition)
Posted by Bill Hansell on Thursday, May 6th, 2010 at 4:37am.Overhaulin' your modern house? Unlike the popular TV show's seven day makeovers of forlorn cars, you'll be lucky if you can crank out a house renovation in seven months. That said, your newly overhauled house can turn a generic developer's box into a personalized home that will last a lifetime. When properly done, your investment can substantially increase the value and your family's enjoyment of your property. Believe me, it beats the time and money pit of rebuilding that '72 VW Karmann Ghia convertible you bought in college (as I painfully realized years ago.)
There are some analogies between car and house projects, though. The big one is that it's all in the details. Since Architecture is better described in images rather than words, I will rely on project photos for this blog instead of a lot of text. This is Part One of a cross section of improvements made to a recent Eichler renovation.
Let's start with the first step: Selective demo:
OK, so sometimes demo is not so selective. In this case, half the house was being replaced while the remaining half was renovated.
The existing front facade had already suffered some prior bad renovations so improving it was a high priority. A key idea was to demo the brick faced wall and build a new concrete block wall on the opposite side of the beautiful oak. This allowed the tree to be enjoyed privately from the courtyard side:
Existing:
New:
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Here is the existing courtyard:
And here is the new one:
Once in the courtyard, it was necessary to create an attractive entry. It is essentially the house's second facade:
The mid-tone paint on the exteriors walls was selected to contrast the beams and soffit (i.e. underside of the roof overhang) and accentuate a feeling of the roof floating above the walls. A splash of accent color on the door is a classic Eichler touch that's hard to resist.
Inside the front door, the original house presented the living room fireplace which, unfortunately, closed off the view of the extensive rear yard. The new design opened up the space and relocated the fireplace to the perpendicular axis of the main room:
This was replaced by...
The view was made possible by a well thought out structural design and minimal glass detailing. A progress photo...
and the final product:
...to the right is an intimate seating area in front of the new fireplace:
Note the details of the fireplace, the texture of the stone, the backlit steel channel that floats in front of the wall. A good lighting plan is a crucial element that is often missed in remodeling projects. Creative lighting can add a whole level of complexity to a project:
Next to the fireplace wall is another carefully detailed element: a bar with a backpainted glass counter and floating shelves that can be concealed by a flush rolling wall panel:
Note again the subtle lighting and the clean edge detailing of the glass shelves:
Adjacent to the open plan living/dining area is the kitchen. The former kitchen faced the courtyard but the new plan relocated it so it would be open to the rear yard and pool. Here is the original condition:
Note the low ceiling, the small skylights, and the sliding doors which get in the way of the view. The new ceiling is 9'-6" high with large skylights and a more appropriately glazed exterior wall:
To the right of this photo is a coffee bar. Shown below is the framing behind that element:
A design secret revealed here is to locate skylights along the perimeter of a space rather than in the center of a room. It allows natural light to wash the walls and for the central ceiling area to contain recessed lights. The finished result is below:
Looking up at the skylight and ceiling design:
While we're on the subject of kitchens, and since they add so much value to a home renovation, let's look at another modern renovation example from my portfolio that shows similar characteristics:
Note the generous glazing area and, in particular, the line of windows between the countertop and the upper cabinets. This provides a beautiful wash of natural light on the counter itself.
The clean lines of the island's stone top which turns down to the floor create a sculptural quality to this central element.
Moving back to the first house, the theme of openness to the landscape and bringing the outside in is best shown in the design of the master bedroom. It utilizes curtain wall detailing borrowed from typical high rise construction. Below is the construction process beginning with the framing:
Next, the aluminum curtain wall framing is added:
The view from the inside:
And the same view from the finished room. Note the glass to glass corner, another classic modern detail:
The finished glass box from the exterior that reflects the surrounding tree patterns and changing natural light.
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But what makes a bedroom that's half glass livable? The ability to make the walls opaque with the flick of a switch. In this case, we added a recessed motorized shade pocket that contains a black out shade. Here is the development of the detail:
In Part Two of this series, I'll show the development of the rest of the house...
- For more info on building or remodeling a home in Marin or the San Francisco Bay Area, please contact Bill Hansell.
- All images are copyrighted 2010. Any and all use is only by written permission of Bill Hansell.
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2 Responses to "Part One: Overhaulin' (The Home Edition)"
I like the cut of your jib, Modernism wise! Very nice remodel job... especially the front gate area, the glass box in the back, the restraint of the brushed metal and wood of the kitchen, and the fireplace. Better than I could have done. I'm no handy-person!
Posted on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 at 10:43am.
Gorgeous reno! You've increased the symbiosis between indoor and outdoor spaces beautifully. I love the infusions of light and really appreciate the trade secret bits! Can't wait to read the next installment!
Posted on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 at 10:43am.