North Beach Remodel

Conceived as a series of new and remodel spaces that interact with the surrounding landscape this North Beach residence is a nod to the modernist pavilion. It captures light from multiple directions and weaves old and new to form a collection of rooms with a natural indoor-outdoor flow.

The new insertions include a home office and a dining area along with an updated open living space and kitchen. These addressed the client’s need for more space but the other important aspect was to create a new aesthetic to give the house ‘curb appeal’. Keeping with the original horizontal format of the home’s existing midcentury vocabulary, a new semi-open steel trellis was conceived for the front of the house unifying the architecture of the new spaces with the existing house and creating a distinct rhythmic design element. Looking through the trellis’s series of columns the interior spaces reveal a very transparent relationship to the garden yet gives the occupants a layer of privacy.

During the course of design, the clients elected to remove an existing large brick interior wall that blocked views from the front to the back of the house. This opened new possibilities for creating a great room and featuring prominently the open beam vaulted ceiling.

For the materials palette, we decided to contrast the exterior and interiors. The dark stained vertical cedar siding and black anodized window frames recede into the lush landscape while the interiors are light and bright. The use of large skylights floods the spaces with soft natural light. We selected materials that would stand the test of time such as white oak cabinets, re-finished original oak floors, gray porcelain tile, light-colored painted walls and beams, and an olive green tile for the backsplash that recalls the color of the landscape.