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McLean chose artificial turf for the front yard, where Hana Bea and her sister, Pilar, 9, play as Sharen looks on.

The new home quotes the forms and materials of the neighborhood, but remixes them in a more contemporary combination.

For the landscape, Neal worked with a friend from graduate school who is based in Portland at landscape architecture firm Lookout.

The living area is anchored by a new stair leading to the second level, which is screened by slats of the same red oak used in the flooring. The side chair was sourced and reupholstered by Seattle-based Madsen Modern.

The slat wall treatment is continued, with the powder-coated metal railing “creating a different language,” says Gregga. Adds Sean: The railing “has such a good feel in your hand.”

A focus on materiality and minimal lines takes inspired from Japanese architecture.

The wide staircase leads to the living area, dining space, and kitchen, with the husband's art prominently displayed.

No one wanted to alter the stairway, and kept its original design intact. New windows and a clever and sleek wood staircase highlight the private courtyard outside.

The minimalist exterior complements the rest of the inside, with a fun play on materials and intersecting lines.

The couple wanted to be strategic and intentional about the lighting sources in their home, and opted not to do can lights at all. "We'll use the paper lantern at night, and everything is on a dimmer,

Custom closets line one wall in the primary suite, and are tucked into open areas throughout the home. "When you live in New York, you have to be very efficient with storage,

"We did splurge in certain areas, but we made sure to be careful about where we did,

Thanks to a robust solar panel array, the house is net-zero, with enough energy to charge the couple's electric car as well.

Each of the couple's three children have their own rooms, with built-in desks and storage units. The bedrooms have rift and quartered white oak flooring.

The architects did not want "the operating theater" of can lights, so Ernesto designed a custom fixture consisting of a simple steel plate that disguises "cheap can lights," seen here in the upper hallway. "It looks like a $1,500 fixture, but it's like $300," he says.

The living room sits at the rear of the house, connected to the garden. "Even though it's a very small house, we wanted the living room to be very generous," says the couple. "This room is the life of the house."

The entryway is tucked behind a thin steel wall, shielding it from the kitchen. The designers created a six-inch shelf on the kitchen side for storage.

The 1,922-square-foot home was built on a double-wide lot that the owners purchased and subdivided with another couple.

The site was constrained by the root system of the mature trees, along with parking requirements, leading to a massing of two stacked boxes, with the larger upper level creating an overhang.