Project posted by Reichi Lee

Berkeley Bungalow Lift

Year
2017
Structure
House (Single Residence)
Style
Modern
Lifting the house
Lifting the house
Front of the house
Front of the house
Front door
Front door
Front entry
Front entry
Kitchen
Kitchen
Kitchen looking into living room
Kitchen looking into living room
Living room
Living room
Nana Wall
Nana Wall
Backyard looking into living room
Backyard looking into living room
Half bath under stairwell
Half bath under stairwell
Half bath under stairwell
Half bath under stairwell
Stairwell
Stairwell
Upstairs hallway
Upstairs hallway
Guest room
Guest room
Children's bedroom
Children's bedroom
Master bedroom
Master bedroom
Master bedroom
Master bedroom
Children's bathroom
Children's bathroom

7 more photos

Details

Square Feet
1904
Lot Size
2,500 sq ft
2,500 sq ft
Bedrooms
3
Full Baths
2
Partial Baths
1

Credits

Posted by
Architect
Susan L. Wootan
Interior Design
Shane Kirk
Builder
James E. Ferguson
Photographer
Chuck Revell

From Reichi Lee

Like many San Francisco Bay Area couples who have outgrown their modest homes after having children yet cannot afford to trade up in a sky-high housing market, this Berkeley couple decided to transform their 952 square foot bungalow, on a narrow 2500 square foot lot (25 feet wide by 100 feet long), by lifting their existing house to form a second story and building a new first story underneath.

The original house, built in 1908, did not meet current setback regulations. New construction atop the existing house (without a lift) would have meant narrowing the house even more or no windows along the sides of the second floor, making bedrooms impossible.

By lifting the existing house so that it became the second floor, the owners could keep the existing windows, allowing all the bedrooms to be upstairs. Downstairs, the open floor plan and half bath tucked underneath the stairwell left no square footage unused, serving as an entertainment area. The addition of a floor-to-ceiling NanaWall system at the back of the house brings the outside in, creating an abundant light source from one end of the house to the other, despite having no windows on the sides of the first story. A floating stairwell wrapping underneath an existing skylight provides another flood of light from top to bottom.

Architect: Susan L. Wootan
Interior Design: Shane Kirk

Contractor: James E. Ferguson

Photographer: Chuck Revell

Location: Berkeley, California

Bedrooms: 3

Full Baths: 2

Partial Baths: 1

Structure: House (Single Residence)

Style: Modern

Year: 2017

Square Feet: 1,904