This existing house was lacking curb appeal due to a previous  boxy addition that did not match the original construction, or the neighborhood context.  The existing house had no central public connection to the rear yard and had an unorganized interior space with no flow.  

As that boxy addition provided more floor area and lot coverage than the planning department would allow which made a great challenge to create a residence that would blend into the neighbor hood while maintaining a cohesive, livable home that suited the clients' aesthetics.

The visual solution  was to make the home such that from the street it's traditional, but towards the back it gently becomes more modern. 

At the entry it was important to provide the client with a large shoe and coat closet and that it feel connected with the rest of the home.  The living room and dining room are very open and light filled.  Off to the side of the dining room is a slightly more enclosed piano & library room.

Beyond that one arrives at center of the house, a meeting point of the stair from the garage below, the stair to the upstairs, the kitchen and the laundry, keeping flow simple.

The center of the kitchen features large island. The main side of the island has the sink, dishwasher & generous countertops and faces the stove, refrigerator, tall pantry & prep counter, keeping the need extra steps while cooking to a minimum. The other side of the island is a generous seating space. On this eating side of the kitchen there is a long counter for staging and additional storage. The large windows of the kitchen bring in natural light and offer a connection to the exterior deck & garden at the rear of the house.

Connecting two floors is the open, bright stairway. There is a large window in the stair landing to bring in volumes of light both to the first floor and the second floor.  This light floods the center of the house.

On the second floor there is a master suite at the rear of the house that has expansive views. At the front of the house are two bedrooms and a hall bath.  Every room has windows that let in tremendous natural light.