Janette Lindner first bought this Houston, Texas, bungalow 20 years ago, before she and her husband, Fred, got together. “She allowed me to move in,” Fred says with a laugh. The pair made some small tweaks to the interiors to make the 1930 home more comfortable for a modern age, and they lived there, two young adults in love, happily for years.

Smash cut to 2020. The Lindners were still happy in their historic neighborhood, but they were also starting to feel a little cramped, now that they shared the house with their two kids, Andrew and Alex. “Covid really highlighted our need to expand the space and the function of the home to accommodate our growing family,” says Fred.

They started dreaming of a more functional layout, with separate rooms for each of the kids, office spaces to accommodate the grown-ups’ hybrid work schedules (Janette is a management consultant; Fred is a brand and software designer), and a new laundry room. The catch? They didn’t want to give up too much of the backyard to make it happen. “Outdoor space is important to us,” says Janette. Oh, and any changes needed to be in keeping with the scale and character of the neighborhood.

For some, this might have been a tall order, but Kristin Schuster, principal of Inflection Architecture, approached the challenge with excitement. “They had this darling little historic bungalow that they really cared for a great deal and had worked hard to make work for them,” she recalls. “The house was bursting at the seams with vibrant, colorful stuff everywhere, and I remember thinking, ‘Okay, there’s a way to find the place for all of these things and all these people that is going to help them stay connected.’”

Working with Schuster, the family settled on plans for a new-build second story that would bring the 1,200-square-foot bungalow up to 1,900 square feet, with three bedrooms and plenty of space for family music jams and creative pursuits. Schuster placed bedrooms for Alex and Andrew up on the second floor, along with a shared bath and play space, which allowed her to reconfigure the ground level more effectively and make use of shared, overlapping functions.

“All these spaces connect through looping circulation or sneak-peek openings that borrow light and views and let everyone feel as connected as they want to be while they are home,” says Schuster.

Living in one of Houtson’s more restrictive historic districts, there were some limits on what could be done to the facade of their home, which was built in 1930. But the demolition revealed evidence that the home had once had a large front porch, so Fred took a 22-slide Powerpoint presentation down to city hall and got permission to add one back into the design.

The Lindners spent just over $500,000 on the renovation, but they found savings by picking and purchasing finishes and furniture themselves. Keeping the kitchen, living, and dining rooms in the same spot also helped save money—no major plumbing or rewiring. “We had such a large list of requirements and nice-to-haves, but it wasn’t just about hitting a target number of square feet. It was about adding function,” says Fred.

Of course, as with any renovation, fate determined some of the expenses. “A lot of our budget was taken up by finding out our house wasn’t built to code to begin with,” says Fred with a laugh. “It turns out it was a miracle it didn’t fall in on itself earlier.” Much of the floor and ceiling joists needed to be replaced. “It wound up looking like a movie set of an old Western town. We had three walls and no ceiling and no floor.”

Supports for the second story also were a necessary splurge, naturally. Schuster designed the upper level to follow the unique swoop of the roofline, so it’s not visible from the street—and it’s accessed via a central staircase with a skylight that lets sunshine into the middle of the house as the family members run around hosting Saturday brunches, practice piano, or huddle around the kitchen island planning a big Utah road trip.

Now almost a century-old, the butter-yellow house has had a long history—but with this thoughtful expansion, it has a long future ahead of it, too.

$12,593 Foundation	$38,566 Structural Expenses	$38,049 Wall Finishes
$18,643 Flooring	$6,233 Roofing	$1,325 Hardware
$18,813 Electrical	$17,492 Plumbing	$23,100 HVAC Equipment
$67,140 Cabinetry	$5,738 Countertops	$13,886 Windows & Glazing
$10,338 Doors	$4,050 Millwork	$12,591 Metalwork
$40,000 General Contractor Fee	$79,725 Architect Fee	$6,700 Demolition
$6,590 Waste Removal	$26,050 Porches and Deck	$3,600 Insulation
$7,300 Exterior Painting	$46,469 Miscellaneous	$1,900 Cleaning
Grand Total: $506,891

More Budget Breakdown stories:

They Turned a Backyard Shed Into an Aging-in-Place Guest Suite for $140K

You’d Never Guess This Serene Family Home Was a Marijuana Grow House

An Oregon Designer Turns a Quonset Hut Into a Guesthouse for $345K

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Inflection Architecture / @inflectionarch

Builder/General Contractor: Frich Investments / @frichinvestments2

Structural Engineer: Santee Engineering

Updated on 4/11/25: The walls and ceiling in the kids’ bathroom are partially covered in penny tiles, not wallpaper.

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