Wide-open spaces Wide-open spaces (May 21, 2004)

Remodel assured access to view, increased privacy

By Gretchen Roberts

Armed with a vision and a host of professionals, a Los Altos Hills couple turned their lifeless 1950s ranch house into a sprawling, custom-built home and hillside terrace with magnificent views of the hills.

When they bought the house in 1994, the owners had two seemingly incongruous goals: to maximize the open space in the house and yard for entertaining and viewing the hills, while still ensuring their privacy. The end result provides a wealth of views, party space for more than 100 guests and cleverly placed shrubs and landscaping that turns the spot into a private haven.

There is little left of the square box and bland lawn the remodeling project centered around. The extensive renovation was completed in two stages. The first phase, finished in 1996, involved the public areas of the home. Architect Roger Kohler added a garage and reworked one end of the house to widen the living room and kitchen, open the ceilings with cedar beams and replace all the windows. Given the limitations of the hillside and existing pool in back, the project was relatively complicated, Kohler says.

The front yard was nothing more than a strip of grass and a hedge that ended in a steep slope. Landscape designer Candice Stein created a winding flagstone path with multiple terraces for entertaining. "My job was to change what was essentially a slope, 12 feet from the front door, into usable space," Stein says.

Phase two of the remodel, completed in 2003, focused on the bedrooms, office and bathrooms. Several existing rooms were redone, and a new wing was added to complete the home. The owners wanted the transition between the old and new wings to be seamless, specifically with no steps between them. "This dictated some serious excavation," contractor Chris Donatelli explains. "The site slopes up away from the north and east sides of the house."

Donatelli's crew transformed the old master bedroom, bathroom and kids' rooms. The office had been a narrow bedroom but was unusable because of the doors opening to the pool area. The doors were replaced with windows and the room became an office complete with custom-built bookshelves and a concrete countertop.

Another bedroom was converted to a game room. Donatelli widened the doorway to open up the long hallway. The bathroom was redone with plaster walls, Italian tile flooring and a new corner tub.

The new wing begins where the old master bedroom ended with a pool area entrance. The owners wanted a spot where swimmers could enter the house and drip, so the flooring in the entryway is slate with laser-cut wheat-sheaf tiles interspersed. The hallway features modern lighting and a view of a small art collection at the end, leading toward the master bedroom and bath.

The spacious master bedroom is broken up into small, cozy vignettes. A fireplace is built into yellow- and orange-stained concrete featuring a wave motif -- one of many throughout the house. The wave is also seen above the bed on a freestanding wall that shields the bathroom and dressing area from view and in the custom-cut bathroom mirrors.

Finally, the old barn atop the hill was converted into a bathhouse/guest cottage in the home's style.

"The first thing a visitor to this house notices is the striking use of color, texture and materials to create a unique interior," Donatelli says. In addition to the wave theme, the other predominant design feature is tile deco pieces and borders used to add character to the granite tile floors and walls.

From the beautiful yard to the eclectic new addition, each small detail of the transformation has come together to create a fresh new home.

Design challenge: Create a seamless transition between old and new wings of home; disguise length of home with interesting hallways
Unexpected problems: Hillside slope and existing pool required extensive excavation, as well as a drainage system and retaining wall.
Year house built: Early 1950s
Time to complete: Six months planning, nine months construction
Size of home: 6,000 square feet
Budget: $1 million

Resources:

Architect: Roger Kohler, Kohler Associates Architects, 721 Colorado Ave., Suite 102, Palo Alto; (650) 328-1086

Building contractor: Chris Donatelli, Donatelli Castillo Builders, 534 Horning St., San Jose; (408) 287-4886

Interior designer: Patrice Greene, Dzign IT, 22624 Voss Ave., Suite A, Cupertino; (408) 446-1122

Landscaping designer: Candice Stein, Candice Stein Landscape Design, 245 S. 12th St., San Jose; (408) 297-8873

Landscaping architect: Eric McKenna, McKenna Landscape, 15573 Benedict Lane, Los Gatos; (408) 356-1842

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