Location: Eagle Rock, Los Angeles
Completed: 2014
Scope: Complete renovation
Size: 1,438 Square Feet

The Challenge:

Originally, this was a very simple 1,000 square foot clapboard house from 1923, very typical to Los Angeles.  Various changes over the years stripped the house of any original character, and left some odd spaces.  A lack of insulation posed a heating and cooling challenge, and the overall condition of the house was very poor.

The Solution:

A three-foot floor rise in a 1990 addition was lowered to bring the whole home on the same level, thus opening up an expansive eleven foot high ceiling in the master bedroom suite area.  Removing a partition wall and vaulting the ceiling over the kitchen and living room created another generous expanse of space.

In essence, the renovated house forms two large loft-like volumes, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms connecting.

Whereas a conventional renovation approach might be to mimic detailing of the period, with mass-manufactured off- the-shelf synthetic moldings, this project took a different path. The home was renovated in a contemporary style, but using hand- crafted recycled materials. Many of the recycled materials were originally processed in the decade of the house’s original construction.  Douglas fir for flooring produces a warm reddish glow.  Windows were also built from Douglas fir floor joists.  Recycled redwood ceiling beams form built in shelving.

The wood siding was restored on the original house, and the newer addition was given a smooth stucco treatment.