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Front Door at Night

View of the rear of the house from the backyard. The envelope is composed of a grey washed white cedar and painted corrugated steel cladding. The form and material composition place greater emphasis on the public spaces with the living room on the ground floor (bottom left) and the study on the second floor (top right), while balancing three distinct points of entry. The execution of the ground mudroom (bottom left) provides a discrete practical service entrance, while defining a secondary rear entrance to a basement au pair suite below and prioritizes the connection between interior and exterior living spaces.

The black-stained gable cantilevers over the entryway and aligns flush with the landscape wall, creating a horizontal gap that intersects with the vertical space between both walls.

A pair of lights from IKEA hang above the first floor, which houses the living room, kitchen, and bathroom. Pine floors, painted black, run throughout the residence.

A 606 Universal Shelving System by Dieter Rams for Vitsoe hangs tough on the only opaque wall of the living room. Russell-Clarke and Moolsintong designed the coffee table, and Marcel Wanders gets credit for the Bottoni sofa for Moooi.

A light pink accent wall behind the bookshelf ties the library area with the triangular threshold to the bedrooms.

Sometimes all it takes is a little luck. For a young married couple, it came in the form of this rare find: a 19th-century, three-story, single-family home in the heart of Paris. The building was a charmer with good bones, but was in need of some serious care. In a vibrant retrofit by architect Pierre-Louis Gerlier that includes structural reinforcements, the reimagined design is set off with a new floor plan. The lower level now serves as a space for the couple’s children, with the public areas—including an open-plan living/dining room and kitchen—on the floor above. Upstairs, the attic has been transformed into a very large primary bedroom with a green-and-white bathroom suite. The living room (pictured) showcases the firm’s bespoke carpentry work with a beautiful, mossy-green built-in bookcase that frames a new fireplace, and a staircase surrounded by arched doorways that hold hidden storage. “We created visual breakthroughs in order to connect the different spaces,” says Gerlier. “The rounded arches are there to help magnify these moments.”

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.

The renovated living room gave the space a splash of white, icluding a fireplace makeover, but retained the original red oak floors.

The highly durable nature of Cambria means it can be used in almost any application—including wet areas, such as showers. Cambria Colton™ combines rust-colored inscriptions with a warm, creamy backdrop for timeless appeal.

A rule of thumb is that the kitchen and bathroom are usually the first rooms you visit in the morning and last rooms you see before going to bed—so make sure that the countertop design appeals to you at these times. In this kitchen, Cambria Beckington™ has been used to create a countertop and backsplash with subtle gray and tan veining.

It’s also important to take plenty of photos of the space that you want to remodel before visiting the showroom. “Photos help us understand the space and what you currently have,” says Carter.

“Many of our customers watch remodel shows on television for inspiration and are under the impression that an entire kitchen can be remodeled in a few days,” explains Carter. “We explain it can typically take up to 12 weeks for a complete remodel and two to six weeks for a ‘swap the top,’ new paint, and appliances.”

Quartz is one of the hardest minerals on earth with plenty of applications beyond the kitchen and bathroom. Here, Cambria’s Berkshire Brass Sculpted™ design has been used to create a dramatic bar and fireplace in a light-filled living room.

Cambria Quartz is entirely American made, with a quartz mine is in North America and slabs produced at the Cambria factory in Minnesota. All slabs also come with a transferable Full Lifetime Warranty that has the potential to add value to your home when it’s time to sell.

Kitchens and bathrooms typically need to be updated every 10 to 15 years—and it’s an exciting opportunity to transform the spaces you spend a lot of time in. The robust black marbled veining of the Cambria Rose Bay™ design used in this bathroom adds a striking abstract element to the room.

The powder bathroom features a custom stone sink and white oak vanity base built by the homeowner.