Renovations

Designer Jeff Sand’s Universal Chairs combine his love for classic French café chairs with an appreciation for “the beautiful metal casings on an old Moto Guzzi.” Sand Studios also designed the dining table and pendant lamp.

The pair painted the upstairs master bedroom white, and added a G55 sling chair and leather baskets from their recent design collections. The carpet is from a souk in Casablanca, and the bedcover is from Zara Home. Atop the vintage cup-board is an artwork by Vereecke’s father. Verheyden incorporated all-new woodwork of his design into the room.

Steven and Tata relax in their living room. “The house has always been deemed the ‘great escape,’” says Steven. “It’s a very special place for us.” The Superheroes stool and table are by Swedish designers Glimpt Studio for Cappellini, the blush-colored rug is from ABC Carpet & Home, and the Pan Pan rabbit figurine is by Ligne Roset.

In the upper-level bathroom, tiles painstakingly fired by DeSimio cover the walls and ceiling.

The renovation was designed to preserve and call attention to the angular pattern of the crisscrossing concrete ceiling beams. Photo by Jim Stephenson.

The addition references the main house in materiality and function. "We did not want to simply copy the existing elements, so we explored and investigated different levels of faithfulness to the existing structure, from a very near emulation to a much more contemporary approach that would only quote the previous architecture in some key aspects," Grueneisen says.

View of the steel pulley system from upstairs. Brod designed the pulley himself, essentially a personal elevator, using nothing but cantilevered body weight to hoist him up and down within seconds.

In the master bedroom, a small, cramped closet was replaced with a wardrobe that is partially obscured by a slatted wooden screen that was built by Metalworks & Design Studio of Seattle. "The idea was you see through it, so in a sense it doesn't feel like a small space," Smith says.

The duo added custom redwood cabinetry on the dining area side. The pendants are from Birchwood Lighting.

"The most challenging part of the design was fusing the old part of the house with the new addition," says principal architect Alex Terry. The character and architectural integrity of the single-level 1950s ranch house was thoughtfully reconsidered during the addition and remodel. The home’s front porch, typical of the period, was refreshed with Ipe decking and railing.

The exterior mixes pale gray wood on the vertical volume, and fiber cement and black brick on the horiztonal volume. The three trees in the front yard were maintained during the renovation process.

The Imhoffs vaulted the ceiling in their living room, dispensing with the old attic and carving out skylights to draw natural light into the space.

Numerous renovations left the 1930s apartment dark, cramped, and confused, a space searching for a strong personality. Stripping the track-marked wood floors and dropped ceilings of the roughly 750-square-foot space revealed a subtle vaulted ceiling and a colorful series of tiles.

Warm and casual furniture is favored in the courtyard. Colorful seating, wood stools, and smart built-in shelving complete the space. The expandable table by Henkin Shavit is flanked by seven hanging pendant lights, symbolizing the branches of the Menorah. To the right of the table, the original stone arch leads to the home’s wine cellar.

Light streams into the bedroom through walls of floor-to-ceiling glass. The windows are triple-glazed, creating a tight, eco-friendly seal.