The clients had a long wish list to accomplish in a modest sized oddly laid out home. Additionally, due to a creek on the property, an addition would be extremely complicated.

The existing house's layout had one walk into a living room entry on the street level. I was inspired after going downstairs through a tiny closed in stairway and rounding a corner, I was astounded at the lovely backyard that was unconnected to that main living space above. I felt flipping it to have the bedrooms upstairs and large open rooms downstairs would be great. As I like clients to have the house that is best for them, I offered up several schemes, one of which flipped the current layout and put the public spaces on the lower level that connects to that rear yard. During the process  of schematic design, they came to agree that that would give them the best experience of their house and property.

The existing house had a little gable roof on the front that was over a window in the house.

We made use of that and a recess to make a nice covered entry and filled in under the existing entry porch to add a touch more space so the master suite could have a walk-in closet.

It was important to find an entry and stair solution to have a good flow from the entry and the garage  to the downstairs while still keeping the bedrooms on that upper level private.

The indoors and outdoors connect with an expansive deck off the open living room, dining room. The bi-fold doors off the dining room and french doors off the kitchen allow for the indoor-outdoor experience.

Photographs by Chuck Revell  http://www.revellray.com/