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Floor Plan of Southfield Farm Cabin by Barlis Wedlick Architects

Before: This 1910 Colonial in Alameda, California, was in bad shape after sitting empty for a few years, but had good bones. “Our realtor was actively telling us not to buy the house, saying it was too much of a wreck,” recalls Mickus. “But we respectively overruled her.”

Craig Winer, senior vice president and co-owner of Garrett Wade.

The design team created four different outdoor spaces—a planted terrace off the living room, a screened-in porch, a rooftop deck above the porch, and a yard—to achieve the indoor/outdoor lifestyle the homeowners craved.

“The atrium is the first place you enter,” says Leidner. “Traditionally, it’s a hardscaped area with some potted plants, but we wanted it to be more like a full garden, right in the middle of the house.”