Favorites

The

Alaina’s parents built the home in the 1950s and moved in on the night of their wedding.

Popham Design supplied the tiles in the bathrooms, were Gebhardt chose to incorporate more color.

Murphy took a completely different approach to the color and material palette in the second house. “We wanted to show that with very small changes, you can have a totally different space, and there's a lot of potential in these little houses,” says Murphy. Custom shelving, made of stained oak and metal, anchors one end of the living room, with an armchair from Southwood Home.

A poured concrete patio sits between the two buildings. “I wanted to include those expressed 'joint' lines as part of the design, so our very clever landscaper put a shallow cut along the concrete once it had cured,” says Murphy.

The kitchen flooring is dark green, seconds tile from local tile maker Pratt & Larson—purportedly rejects from the Starbucks coffee chain. The tan-colored grout is "copacetic" with the wood floors.

The patio features Diamond chairs by Harry Bertoia.

Entertainment area

Architectural designer Sebastian Mariscal and project manager Jeff Svitak created a house in Venice, California, for Michael and Tamami Sylvester. Known as Dwell Home Venice for its role as an exemplification of modern architecture, the house is an homage to indoor-outdoor living. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.

Front Victorian porch

rear outdoor space

The garden is by landscape designer Tom Massey. The paving is similar to the bricks used in the extension.

Boasting exposed beams, the kitchen also has custom white-oak cabinetry built by Philadelphia Woodworking Co. An oversized picture window overlooks the backyard garden.