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Collection by Jami Smith

Exterior Home Renovations

From an aging Italian sandstone farmhouse to a 1955 four-bedroom home, take a look at these five extraordinary renovations.

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A Bay Area landscape designer works her yard like a jigsaw puzzle, packing a bevy of distinctive destinations into a steep and diminutive plot.
A Bay Area landscape designer works her yard like a jigsaw puzzle, packing a bevy of distinctive destinations into a steep and diminutive plot.
When Guido and Sabrina Chiavelli left their tiny apartment in Asolo to begin their family life in the northern Italian countryside, they chose to renovate a crumbling sandstone farmhouse. The desire to preserve the building's original structure while adding a modern aesthetic led the couple to augment the stone walls with teak panels and wide windows.
When Guido and Sabrina Chiavelli left their tiny apartment in Asolo to begin their family life in the northern Italian countryside, they chose to renovate a crumbling sandstone farmhouse. The desire to preserve the building's original structure while adding a modern aesthetic led the couple to augment the stone walls with teak panels and wide windows.
The first thing designers Craig Bassam and Scott Fellows did after purchasing a 1955 four-bedroom house by Willis N. Mills was strip it. "We didn't realize the exterior was straight-grain redwood," says Bassam. "It was covered in layers of gray paint." Bassam replaced the terrace's concrete pavers with bluestone and removed a concrete-block wall.
The first thing designers Craig Bassam and Scott Fellows did after purchasing a 1955 four-bedroom house by Willis N. Mills was strip it. "We didn't realize the exterior was straight-grain redwood," says Bassam. "It was covered in layers of gray paint." Bassam replaced the terrace's concrete pavers with bluestone and removed a concrete-block wall.
For the facade, exposed to the constant salt air, the team considered everything from copper or zinc to Kynar-coated aluminum. Eventually, a sample of titanium was tacked up for six months and showed no wear. “Part of the green philosophy is not just what is cheaper; it’s what’s sustainable,” Cranston explains. “The titanium cladding was more expensive, but this is a house we plan to be in for the rest of our lives, so we wanted something that needed virtually no maintenance.”
For the facade, exposed to the constant salt air, the team considered everything from copper or zinc to Kynar-coated aluminum. Eventually, a sample of titanium was tacked up for six months and showed no wear. “Part of the green philosophy is not just what is cheaper; it’s what’s sustainable,” Cranston explains. “The titanium cladding was more expensive, but this is a house we plan to be in for the rest of our lives, so we wanted something that needed virtually no maintenance.”