home

In Sunnyvale, California, architect Ryan Leidner cracked open a 1962 Eichler with a crisp remodel flush with foliage. He replaced the home’s vertical plywood facade with one-inch strips of American red cedar set at two depths. The rhythmic slats conceal a garage door that swings open on a hidden hinge. At the entryway, two massive panes of frosted glass shimmer with light and shadow from the atrium inside. Homeowners Isabelle Olsson and Matthaeus Krenn stand out front.

Sandwiched between two ornate Victorians, the London home designed by Alma-nac remedies a midcentury blunder with a contemporary correction.

In the living room, a Croft House sofa cozies up to a Casamidy coffee table and leather-wrapped Remnant Stools from Cuffhome.

Use this as a guide to finding the right architect for your new home or renovation—and what to expect during the process.

Hiring a general contractor (GC) may not be as exciting as picking an architect, but it’s definitely as important. After all, this is the person who will determine whether you’re sleeping in a beautiful new bedroom or a motel when your projected move-in date rolls around.

Adding built-in plywood bookshelves to the living room side of the kitchen island was a logical way to add storage and display space. Anderson also built a coffee table to match, using a remnant piece of blackened steel from his office, building a plywood box, and adding caster wheels.

The firm raised the height and increased the width of the new opening between the kitchen and dining room.

“When I come home, this is like a sanctuary. I open up the doors and sit outside and read, or work around the house,” says resident Colleen Nusinow.

A 22-foot sliding-glass door by Fleetwood opens onto an ipe deck furnished with lounge chairs, a cocktail table, and stools from Room & Board’s Penelope line. The bar is made of concrete and Richlite, a wood-fiber composite used in skateboard ramps.

The Lai family—Mayuko, baby Shota on her lap, David, Maya, and Yumi sitting on a cushion on the deck—relaxes in their indoor-outdoor living space, made by opening the glass sliding doors to connect the living room and engawa deck.

The couple’s eco-friendly renovation process took 18 months.

Stuth and Shelton’s dining area, like their bedroom, and the rest of their house, is a work in progress. The couple keeps an eye out for deals on materials to complete their laundry list of unfinished projects. Recently, a local surplus building supply happened to have just enough extra maple to finish their floors. They jumped on it. “We’re just waiting for the right opportunities,” Shelton says.

- Buenos Aires, Argentina Dwell Magazine : September / October 2017

A box sheathed in the same material acts as a divider and holds the bathroom. - Buenos Aires, Argentina Dwell Magazine : September / October 2017

A slatted walkway leads into the new library, which the Gimons have outfitted with a Topissimo rug by Nani Marquina, Grove Garden wallpaper from Osborne & Little’s Tara collection, and a pink Chroma Sassy sliding wall panel by 3form.

Landscape architect Tait Moring installed pavers around the structure’s perimeter and kept the tree cover intact. Photo by: Kimberly Davis