Ben Mickus and his wife, Taryn, weren’t exactly looking for a new house. But in 2014, Taryn, a lactation consultant with an eye for design and a passion for local real estate, popped into an open house around the corner from the couple’s home in Alameda and had a vision. “I was on a business trip in China and she called me,” recalls Ben, an architect at his own firm, Mickus Projects. “She said, ‘This is the house.’”

It was a “dramatic moment,” he adds, laughing. But not as dramatic as the changes the couple had in store for the new-to-them 1910 residence. Taryn’s vision was to open up the main level from front to back, making over key spaces like the kitchen and attic. She also imagined expanding a previous addition so it would be both structurally sound and more functional for her family of four.

“She started explaining concepts of tearing down walls, opening up walls of windows, and letting light pass all the way through the house,” Ben says. “That was enough to convince me.”

Before: Front Exterior

After: Front Exterior

The couple moved in with their two kids and lived in the house for six months while they firmed up design plans. By the end of 2015, the first phase was complete, and Ben started the finish work. “It was an architectural project and a furniture and lighting project all wrapped into one,” says Ben, who also designs products and lighting.

Three more years passed before initiating phase two: an attic overhaul that eked out even more usable space.

Before: Entry

After: Entry

Before: Living Room

After: Living Room

Before: Dining Room

After: Dining Room

Ben describes the finished home as a “gradient.” The front façade, entry, living, and dining room all retain much of the old character—elements like wainscoting, leaded glass windows, and coved plaster ceilings. After the dining room is the kitchen, which is now a “transition zone,” says Ben, as it’s “where the original details stop and the new design starts.”

He restored a few of the kitchen’s historic elements like doors and trim, but revamped its layout and finishes. The ceiling was removed to expose the rafters, create an access point for the attic, and to add a skylight to brighten the space.

Before: Kitchen and Rear Addition

After the kitchen came the retooled rear addition, or what Ben calls the “everything room”: a three-story, multifunctional sunroom and atrium with a wall of operable windows. “The challenge was trying to figure out how to make that area do as much as possible with the space we had on the property and the amount of money we had to renovate,” says Ben.

A desk with three work stations lines one wall so various members of the family can use it at once. There’s also a lounge space for people to hang out or read, as the TV is in the living room.

After: Kitchen and Rear Addition

The sunroom acts as a connection point. “It’s a central node, though not in the middle of the house,” says Ben, referring to how the space links the kitchen with a bathroom/utility area. A stair Ben likens to a ship’s ladder leads to the attic, which has a finished bonus space, guest room, storage, and crow’s nest. Another set of stairs connects to the primary suite.

Serendipitously, the project wrapped in 2019, just before the pandemic shutdowns. “We were very thankful to have so much communal space,” says Ben. Still, Taryn can’t help but peek at real estate listings. “It’s more of a hobby now,” says Ben. “We’ve both agreed this is our forever house with everything we’ve done, and all that we’ve made it into.”

Before: Rear Exterior

After: Rear Exterior

Before: Attic

After: Attic

More Before & After:

A Timeworn Midcentury Home Gets a Reverent Renovation

A Gloomy Brooklyn Brownstone Gets Spruced Up With Splashes of Color

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Mickus Projects / @mickusprojects

Builder/General Contractor: Ramon Pena Construction

Structural Engineer: Simplengi Engineering

Lighting Design: Mickus Projects

Interior Design: Mickus Projects

Cabinetry: Mickus Projects

Radiant Heating: HTO Plumbing & Radiant

Stair and Handrail Fabrication: Les Barnes Welding

Appears In

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