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After living in their rancher in Mountain View’s Blossom Valley neighborhood for about seven years, Janet Luo and Mengzhe Ma realized that they’d simply outgrown the home.
When they bought the house in 2013, their son was 5. By 2023, the whole family’s needs had changed: Their son, now 15, needed space to be with friends and work on projects; the parents needed a much larger “great” room so they could cook, entertain friends and host their church’s fellowship meetings.
Project details at a glance …
Goal
Expand and modernize home
Unanticipated issues
Old abandoned pipe too close to expanded foundation
Year house built
1955, remodeled 2023
Size of home, lot
Was 3BR, 2BA, 1,280-sf home; now 4BR, 3BA, 2,300-sf home on 7,840-sf lot
Time to complete
3 years planning, about 8 months construction
They were also hoping Luo’s elderly father, who lives alone in Canada, might move into their home.
“The living room was pretty small in the old house. There was no room for a party or having friends gather on weekends,” Ma said.
Instead of a tiny kitchen separated from the small living room by a wall, the newly expanded space is one huge room – with the kitchen at one end, then the dining table and lastly the large family room, all under a new 10-foot ceiling. Highlights include “The Frame” Samsung television that doubles as an art gallery, as well as a 100-inch-wide Touchstone Sideline Elite electric fireplace.
Throughout the house the colors are neutral and calm, from the engineered oak flooring to the Crystal lower cabinets of dark walnut in the kitchen, with white uppers.
“We like the island because it’s open, there’s more working area and more storage,” Ma said. “When cooking, you can communicate with other family members and friends.”
‘Engineering’ the plan
As an engineer, Ma was intimately involved with the planning and expediting of the project. Working from architect Matt Kohler’s plans, he began by shopping for windows and cabinets, anticipating that it could take three months to deliver the materials.
They then interviewed six potential contractors, ultimately choosing one who promised to complete the project in six to eight months.
Ma could not stress enough the need to plan ahead.
“Know the whole flow first; plan for materials. … As an engineer, I understand schedules, delays. … Not everything you can do is parallel. Sometimes it’s step by step. You must actively monitor the critical path,” he said.
Of course, there were some setbacks. When looking to extend the foundation to enlarge the great room, they came upon an old pipe that ran across the lot. It took a week – and a knowledgeable building inspector – to determine that it was hollow, dry and abandoned, and they could remove it. The alternative would have been redrawing the plans to be 6 inches shorter along one long wall. Whew.
A new floor plan
Today one enters the home through a wide, wooden pivot door, with a small living room on the right that is used mostly for music. Walk straight ahead and you’re in the great room; Turn left and there’s a new laundry room and the beginning of the bedroom wing.
Both the doorway to the hallway bathroom and the glass shower door are wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair. Today the door is a swing door, but it can be changed to a barn door to ease the entry.
The first bedroom has its own en suite bathroom; the second bedroom could serve as a guest room (or father-in-law space); the third is used as an office.
Next comes the new primary suite where the ceiling was raised from 8 to 9 feet. One reaches the bathroom via the walk-in closet. The bedroom overlooks the backyard with its newly covered patio.
Outside, the grassy yard was replaced with concrete pavers and artificial grass, but the mature trees at the corners were maintained. The patio is tiled over a concrete base.
While they thought about the project for a few years, they actually only had to move out for about eight months while the construction took place. But, between their initial planning and final execution, the construction costs nearly doubled.
In the end, the couple is quite satisfied. Ma said the only thing he might change is to add a bit more grass to the backyard, with less concrete.
His main piece of advice: Call at least five or six contractors before choosing one for the project, focusing not only on estimated cost but on time to complete.
Resources
- Architect: Matt Kohler, Kohler Architects, Palo Alto, 650-328-1086,
- Building contractor: Cal-Ling Construction, San Jose, 408-802-8644
- Interior designer: Jordan Hopp, Arhaus Furniture
- Kitchen/bath cabinets, counter tops, tile, flooring, entrance door: Lasso Inc., San Jose, 669-345-7888
- Patio, pavers: Todayconcrete, Inc., 408-531-9000
- Windows: Wholesale Window Company, Santa Clara, 408-654-9410
Carol Blitzer is a freelance writer.