Homes

The new dormer acts as a skylight for the living room, and also brings light to the upper level, thanks to a cut-out in the hallway.

The meeting room/lunch space features several of George & Willy’s message displays. “We don’t really have titles around here,” says co-founder George Wilkins. Even so, pup Frida is the official Head of Morale.

The team relocated the staircase so it doesn’t break up the facade.

Completed in 2018 on a 2.6-acre site in the San Juan Islands, the two-bedroom modular home was installed in a day.

"Around the time we were thinking of moving back [to San Francisco], I took a trip to Marfa, Texas, and fell in love with the agelessness of Donald Judd’s work," says Amy. "I liked the idea of having a classic American reference to the space, since we are influenced as much from America as we are by Asian culture."

The homeowners can now perch on a wraparound bench and look out to the backyard. The pendant lights in the corner are from Pop and Scott.

A custom-designed console fits the wall perfectly and creates a spot to drop keys and mail, or check appearances before going out the door.

The home takes the form of two volumes that slide past each other. The front door leads directly to the center of the home, which connects to the both the entrance courtyard and the rear pool area, dissolving the boundaries between interior and exterior space.

Michael D'Angelo Landscape Architecture provided a new master plan that includes grassy areas for lawn games, a fire pit, and new plantings.

The original home on the site was developed in 1936 as a 1,250-square-foot residence with two bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms. Architect Joseph Dangaran wanted to respect this modest scale when he designed a new home for his family.

The balance of old and new achieved in the project impressed the jury for the Australian Institute of Architects 2020 awards, which commended Bokey-Grant by saying, "JJ House is exemplary as an approach for altering and establishing a sense of individuality in the recognizable housing stock of our suburbs."

A design dream team connects a 1980s dwelling to its spectacular site in Paradise Valley, Arizona

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The original home was converted into a bedroom level, and given a second-story addition and roof deck. The dark exterior color, a charcoal-eggplant hue, lets the landscape colors stand out in contrast. “The existing house roof became the roof deck,” says Rogers. “And then I just shifted over the addition so that it floated over the landscape.”

Thompson, a founding principal of Assembledge+, had recently participated in a Los Angeles Magazine project to imagine solutions for those who lack housing in the city. Their notion was for public agencies to subsidize building ADUs in backyards along alleyways, dovetailing with existing alley revitalization initiatives

Solk thickened the fireplace wall to two feet deep, and packed in storage capabilities around the newly refinished fireplace, which now has large-scale porcelain tile surrounding it.

The house has a front door, but it’s actually not the main entrance: That’s found around the side, via a soothing, wood-lined courtyard. It’s a natural space for outdoor entertaining, too, thanks to the built-in fireplace and bench.

"Light is the most important part of a successful living space," Naughtin says. "We utilized double-height glazing with operable windows and large doors to maximize the intake of light and achieve a strong connection to the outdoor space." European oak storage in the living space matches that in the kitchen for a continuous flow.

Although it’s “veiled” from the street, the light-filled hideaway amplifies its connection to the outdoors.