Recreating

Several months ago, we were hired by a new client who came with a long list of areas of her home that she hoped we would address. In our first meeting, we were surprised to find that due to a major leak and mold in the kitchen, the family was basically with a hot plate, microwave and refrigerator in what used to be their kitchen! The entire kitchen had already been torn out.

Along with a new kitchen design, they wanted a new study (another leak!), a new pool and pool surround, and outdoor cooking area, and an entirely new facade for the home...basically, their desire was to recreate the existing home into the elegant home of their dreams. The project has been exciting, and has allowed us to bring a lot of imagination and design ideas to the table.

We've worked simultaneously on several areas of the home, and now some are poised to start construction.

Let's take a look at the exterior first. The existing facade is pretty standard--something I like to call "Confused-Mediterranean". The scale is nice, and the barrel tile roof is a beautiful element to use as a design jump-off. Their desire was to make the exterior look completely different, and more formal. Here's the "Before" photo.

A pretty typical overgrown and somewhat neglected landscape. (Hey, the same thing happened to mine when it started to get overgrown...I just started ignoring it!) Here's what we came up with for a new design concept, in plan view and elevation.

An outer courtyard will be formed by adding a curving knee-wall in the front yard. From this area, you will enter through custom made iron gates to an inner courtyard area, that in turn steps up to the entry, where new mahogany, glass and iron front doors will enter into the foyer. Here is a detail that will be used in the interior courtyard.

As the design developed further, gate details and fencing were added to the front corners of the house for additional privacy.

The project has been several months on the design table, and we're very excited to see the new elements start to take shape. We'll look at more of them in upcoming weeks!