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An older building doesn't mean that it can't also be modern, particularly in the kitchen.

In 2009 on a quiet Los Angeles corner, Mel Elias found a severely water-damaged, crumbling 5,000-square-foot house hidden behind a tangle of overgrown vegetation. Its former owner, the late Hollywood acting coach Milton Katselas, had filled his property with industrial skylights and enormous, wood-burning fireplaces. The glass-and-concrete construction was framed by high ceilings, rusted steel beams, and varied elevations across the single-story plan. Thanks to an 11-year long, multiphase renovation by designer Carter Bradley, the home—with all of its quirks and character—shines again.

Large wood beams frame the sauna’s deck and outdoor shower area.

They converted the garage into a flexible performance space, which became a workout room and practice space for their teen kids during the pandemic.

The painting studio has reclaimed longleaf pine floors that echo the material palette of the original house. The gallery-like white walls provide a place for the client’s colorful paintings to be displayed.

The wraparound deck boasts a view of the surroundings with shade provided by the eaves of the roof.

Located in Sierra Madre, California, an existing ranch home with clean architectural geometry, was transformed into a contemporary home with an expanded open floor plan, improved circulation and access, and carefully placed clerestory windows. On the exterior, revised garage orientation eliminates excessive driveway paving and reestablishes the front yard as usable space.

From their headquarters in Austin, Texas, MA Modular provides modular homes to Louisiana and Texas, among other states. Their modern homes are typically inspired by local vernacular building types.

Faulkner likes how the new building acts to "fit like a glove over the top" of the old one, so the memory of what was there is preserved.

To keep to a barn vocabulary, Faulkner Architects replaced small windows with a large, steel-framed glass opening that can be seamlessly enclosed behind sliding wood doors.

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Guests enter the home by walking through the kitchen, following the same layout that existed when architect David Webber arrived on the scene; however, the sophisticated materials and warm lighting make the space much more inviting than it was before.

Yanki and Yael (pictured), both from Israel, have lived in idyllic locales before—notably a home in Usonia, the forested community planned by Frank Lloyd Wright and his followers—but none, in their estimation, compares to this one. In the kitchen, a Wall Lamp by Workstead hangs above the Terrazzo countertops by Kaza.

Walnut cabinetry with a custom finger-pull treatment, a close collaboration with local designer John Deitrich at Plum Projects, now wraps the kitchen perimeter.

A pair of Splügen Braü pendants from Flos hang near a kitchen island topped with black Swedish granite. The faucets are from Vola and the appliances are from Siemens.