Never say too small to remodel.

Never say too small to remodel

No matter what you call them--cottages, bungalows, or cabins--many

little old houses have a certain appeal of their own: a reminiscent

charm, an attractive setting, or simply an unbeatable price. Remodeling

them for maximum livability without major addition requires creative

plans that work within their compact square footage.

We show three distinctive examples ofsmall-house renovation where

the special character of the house hasbeen retained or enhanced, where

floor plans have become more efficientwithout going beyond original

perimeter walls, where the pressure onspace has inspired spatial

inventiveness. They offer basic lessonsto anyone contemplating a

remodel.

Mendocino: reaching up and out for light and air

The 25-year-old cottage shown here and on our cover sits on two

pleasant berry-strewn acres in northern California. Until a few years

ago, however, the pleasantness stopped abruptly at the front door.

Inside, the 1,500-square-foot house was dark and confining, its

knot-holed redwood paneling having aged to a deep, almost black tone.

Small aluminum-framed windows did little to relieve the darkness and

much to thwart the architectural tradition of the Mendocino coast.

Architect Obie Bowman of The Sea Ranch and his wife, Helena, bought

the cheerless house and set about filling it with light and livability.

Their plan centered around a new 17-foot light tower on the southwest

side of the living room, with rooftop vents for releasing summer heat.

Bowman held costs down by staying on the former structure's

foundation, yet made the house feel larger by raising the ceiling to the

height of the original roof, pushing out the light-tower dormer, and

removing a kitchen wall. Outdoors, adjacent to the old front door, he

created an angled deck that's bounded by lattice panels. A

wisteria-covered frame defines the entry.

Napa Valley: working with a house's original character and

sense of place

The decaying 900-square-foot farmhouse in the Napa Valley had one

important asset: it looked as though it belonged there Built in the

1890s, it's the kind of simple frame structure that used to be a

common sight on California's back roads but is now fast

disappearing. Its raised front porch and a front door flanked by

double-hung windows powerfully evoke an earlier era.

Inside, it was a mess. Plumbing and appliances were primitive. The

bathroom was too far from the bedrooms, and you had to walk through it

to get to the back yard. Most walls needed rebuilding. Closets and work

surfaces were minimal.

San Francisco architect William Turnbull and his winery partner

Reverdy Johnson had the job of making the house habitable for the

Johnson family without oblitcrating its architectural character. They

decided to revamp the floor plan slightly, turning the old bath

(adjacent to the kitchen) into a dining porch with sliding doors to the

outside and French doors to the kitchen and living room.

The house originally had four bedrooms three along the north wall,

one on the south. They removed the latter, adding the extra space to

the living room, and converted another bedroom into the new bathroom.

They enclosed a back porch for use as a master bedroom, bringing

the finished interior space up to 1,296 square feet.

The two small bedrooms remaining each needed storage space, so it

was built in: the beds themselves serve as cabinets, bookcases, night

tables; you see some details in the photographs at left. In each room,

a system of built-in cabinets and closets frames the doorway to the

depth of the door's swing, making the entry to the room a sort of

walk-through wardrobe. Turnbull turned the south wall of the living

room into a miniature library by building in counters, a desk,

bookshelves, and a window seat. He removed a shallow closethttp://www.worldmarket.com/category/dining-kitchen.do to the

right of the fireplace and in its place put an interior window to the

kitchen. The glimpse of a space beyond makes both rooms seem larger

than they are. A big new multipaned window in the kitchen doubles the

amount of light brought in but respects the carpenter-built tradition of

the original windows.

Honey-colored vertical-grain fir cabinetry, recalling the clarity

and spareness of Shaker furniture, repeats the color and texture of the

flooring and unifies the various rooms.

Santa Monica: life in a chambered nautilus

"It was a little like putting a new drawer inside an old

bureau,' says architect Buzz Yudell about remodeling his tiny

570-square-foot cottage. "You could hardly have called it a house

when we bought it. The four walls were just about all we could use.

But the price was right.'

With the help of partner John Ruble, Yudell and his wife, Tina

Beebe, a graphic designer, looked for a way to make the interior seem

less cramped.

They chose a single strong shape--the ellipse--to define the living

area, then placed kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and bedroom around it.

The ellipse is actually a curving partition san jose remodeling contractor of gypsum board over stud

framing, with cutouts for built-in seating and openings to bedroom and

dining room. The cutouts help to open up the living area--without

gutting the space in favor of creating a single, undifferentiated room.

The unusual shape of the partition is a visual surprise; the

sharpness of the contrast between exterior and interior almost jolts the

visitor into thinking he has entered a different world. The cutouts

also lend an enriched sense of volume simply by revealing the thickness

of the partition. A skylight over one end of the built-in seat

backlights part of this sculptural-looking partition.

Fitted behind and partly exposed to the living-room ellipse, the

bedroom is as compact as a ship's cabin or a Pullman car. Its rear

wall, curving inward slightly to echo the curve of the living room,

contains floor-to-ceiling bookshelves with another unexpected detail: a

concealed door in the book-storage wall forms a "secret

passage' to the bathroom. Built into the wall opposite the books

(the back of the durved partition) are a bed, a desk, and drawers to

hold linens.

A tightly organized kitchen opens directly to the dining area,

which in turn opens to the living room.

To enhance the exterior's cottage-like quality, the owners

installed windows and doors salvaged from other bungalows that were

demolished in the neighborhood.

Photo: 1,500 square feet, Mendocino.

Small windows, shady overhangs made for a gloomy interior. No

more: see remodel opposite

Photo: 900 square feet, Napa Valley.

Dark, peeling paint and an unnecessary railing obscured the

reposeful charm of this small farmhouse. See pages 96 and 97 for the

current version

Photo: 570 square feet, Santa Monica.

Haphazard construction and unmatched windows gave a tacked-together

look. The remodel-- shown on pages 98 and 99--is a startling contrast

Photo: Vented light tower rises above roof plane of Mendocino

cottage like a stylized dormer; its window echoes lines of existing roof

gables

Photo: Opened-up kitchen wall lets dining area share light from new

kitchen windows; knee-braced opening keeps to cottage style

Photo: Raised ceiling of living foom shows original roof trusses.

Under stacked windows of new light tower is 4- by 9-foot couch with

built-in bookshelves at ends

Photo: Built-ins make the most of 8- by 12-foot bedroom. Her bed

is part of platform with storage cupboards at each end, trundle

underneath. Closets and cabinets frame the doorway opposite--only 12

feet from original double-hung window

Photo: Self-sufficient bed has drawers for sheets and blankets,

plus a shelf that slides out of headboard to become night stand

Photo: Crisp outlines of porch posts and trim accent

straightforward rural character of restored Napa Valley farmhouse

Photo: New interior window by fireplace allows glimpse of kitchen,

uncramping both small rooms and letting in light from scaled-up version

of old kitchen window. Fir cabinets and moldings match softwood

flooring

Photo: Graceful curves of steps to living room door hint at

geometry within. Carefully proportioned bungalow windows resist

horizontal flattening of eave line

Photo: Ellipse dominates the living spaces, completed outdoors by

curve of steps. Bookcase wall is more gently curved

Photo: Curved partition has cutouts for seating. Deepest cutout (far left) is bedroom; seat at foot ofbed can also serve the living

room

Photo: Concealed door in book wall opens to bathroom. Where

shelving passes windows, there's lighted display space