Design

A wooden entrance opens to the lush lot filled with native vegetation and soaring trees.

A highlight of the overhaul is the floor-to-ceiling glass on the north side, which includes a five-panel bifold door. The door opens to the couple’s favorite area of the house, the backyard. The deck is shaded by the cantilevered roof, and Ren planted drought-resistant brush amid the existing oak trees.

A traditional Japanese tatami room.

Handcrafted green cement tile floors are used in the kitchen and in many living spaces in the home. Honed granite counters, Tzalam wood cabinets, and GE Profile appliances complete the airy space.

In the kitchen, the architects contrasted the oak floor, bamboo cabinetry, and birch walls and ceiling with what architect Jonathan Knowles calls “a family of grays”: granite floor tiles, limestone countertops, and the steel stairway. The birch wall behind Yvette is actually the sliding door to the pantry closet.

Natural bamboo flooring was used throughout the home, as well as dimmable LED lighting. The house incorporates a hybrid heat pump water heater, which draws in ambient heat from the surrounding air, moves it across condenser coils, then transfers it into the tank to heat the water. This device creates the same amount of hot water as a traditional electric water heater, but reduces water-heating expenses up to 62%.

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The dining room.

The estate also includes a maids quarters (or office with bath), a sunroom, and an interior pond and atrium.

The mixed-wood floor includes cherry with maple parquet. The Pol chair is by Mark Albrecht Studio.