Once the coach house was complete for the grandparents we focussed on the “kids” living in the existing vinyl-clad main house with their 2 young girls, and re-designed it in the pattern we had established with the coach house. We briefly explored a second storey and more floorspace but the one level scheme made more sense to the young family, and the resulting design expanded and re-organized the floorspace from 1600 to almost 2000 sqft.

 

The renovation hinged on turning the existing large master and laundry room into 2 bedrooms for the young girls, while a new master suite formed the addition at the front. The girls former bedroom then became the kitchen and an engineered wood beam opened it up dramatically to the living and dining room. The main house in its original state lacked connections to the outdoors, so we removed small windows on both the north and south faces and added large sliding doors with generous overhangs to allow for indoor outdoor living. 

 

The award-winning kitchen is a culinary dream with German cabinets and appliances. The new master ensuite fixtures features interior and exterior clerestory windows and a stunning flush mount rainhead in the shower. Sliding interior doors and panels throughout allow space to flow freely. Flooring is a combination of wide plank oak engineered hardwood and polished concrete.

 

The concrete entry sequence at the front of the main house slides past a privacy wall for the master suite and then turns to the front door forming a bench and providing a base for the entry roof steel post. Both the coach house and the main house are clad in custom vertical cedar siding, stained black. The driftwood-stained cedar soffits provide a beautiful contrast.

 

This property truly has that estate feel with matching buildings, yet each has its own great characteristics. It’s a multi-generational property with all the social benefits that entails. The project result is a practical design with simple and modest spaces.

While it has some luxurious elements it’s really more about comfortable architectural spaces, ample natural light and relationships and connections to the outdoors.