The couple who reside in the house had each lived in this San Diego–area neighborhood for 20 years before they met. After meeting in a party, they fell in love and got married — and then had to choose which one of their two houses to reside in.
After evaluating both houses for possible expansion, they and architect Richard Gatling determined the husband’s charming cabin with its long, narrow lot was the better option, and they got to work designing their new shared home.
The pair thought teardowns and McMansions were wreak havoc on the historical area, so they desired to honor the first 1932 cabin and keep the front facade nearly exactly the same.
in a Glance
Who resides: A retired couple
Location: Just outside San Diego
Size: 1,900square feet; 2 bedrooms, 2 baths
Gatling Design
“The home is the West Coast’s version of this colonial,” Gatling says. It unites East Coast colonial revival style with elements of California Craftsman.
While this job was essentially a teardown ( the front facade was composed while they renovated around it, then replaced it), Gatling was true to the original home’s look , right down to fitting the first siding. 1 new difference front: twist windows, which allow for cooling breezes to pass through the home.
Gatling Design
When Teddy Roosevelt’s post-presidency secretary built the home for his own retirement in 1936, the cabin was just 700 square feet; over time, it had expanded to 1,300, and Gatling’s renovation added an additional 600. The couple nixed the concept of a second floor; they want to grow old, and also there was not space for an elevator.
They appeared at many colors for the front door and found the best reddish in a Matisse painting in the Museum of Modern Art. Gatling needed the paint custom-matched to Matisse’s hue.
Gatling Design
The sawtooth facade functions from front to back. The three pitched roof constructions are staggered over the back. “This gives it a lot of tension and life, carries through in the front and makes things more intriguing than a horizontal facade,” Gatling says.
The new patio is New York bluestone; its green hue picks up on the home’s Craftsman green trim. The Mangaris wood deck includes Craftsman-style detailing. “We added some old-school elements, like the canvas awning, to honor 1930s style,” Gatling says.
The yard’s slope from the street to the back had caused flooding problems in the past. Gatling took care of this by using permeable bricks onto the driveway and parking pad, which capture the water and let it gradually leach out to the yard.
Gatling Design
Sustainability was another priority. The house is well insulated and isn’t air conditioned, since the cross breezes keep it all cool. The water heater and furnace are high efficacy, there’s a centralized energy system, they used no- and low-VOC paints and also the flooring are bamboo.
Though the Gatling design team also finished the interior layout, it is filled with the couple’s individual touches, such as Polynesian masks along with an African drum in the husband’s journeys.
Gatling Design
Thick walls at the entryway contain easy Craftsman-style bookshelves. Gatling carefully copied the board and batten paneling in the home’s original paneling, extending it across all of the walls and ceilings. To acquire the desired 1930s look, rather than drywall he used sanded plywood, painted with hand-brushed thinned coats of paint. The brushstrokes made an aged feel and feel very similar to what was at the first home.
Gatling Design
The hallway opens to the dining room, including 1930s-style built-in glass cabinets containing the wife’s china collection.
Beyond the china cabinets, a butler’s pantry with laundry connects to the kitchen. One can view the garden all the way in the dining room.
Gatling Design
While Gatling was true to the original home’s exterior facades and interior detailing, he made the spaces to the couples’ modern lifestyle, getting rid of their original low ceilings and small rooms. The compacted entryway dramatically opens up into this large, open living space with two vaulted 13-foot ceilings and views to the back of the lot, 125 feet away.
“I don’t need a house to look ‘decorated’ but prefer it look as though items were collected over time,” Gatling says. The leather chairs are Josef Hoffman, and also the timber chairs are French art deco chairs in the 1930s. “All of the furniture is basically period furniture we didn’t wish to go cottage-y with white slip-covered sofas and such.”
Gatling Design
The kitchen and living room are split inside the same space. This side of this kitchen island includes cherry bookshelves for the living room. Gatling chose not to put a sink in the island so it would not look as though it belonged to the kitchen over to the living room.
On the kitchen side, the counter tops and island’s end lineup, defining a breakfast place just beyond. “Several times when I met with the clients, I might see that sitting with java and three newspapers and having disagreements was important to them breakfast together was the middle of their day,” he says. Thus, he left the place carved out and comfortable, with a Brazilian palissandre dining table and upholstered chairs.
Gatling Design
The backsplash tile has been handmade from the famous local Laird Plumleigh Studio.
Range: Viking
Gatling Design
For the wife’s office, the team commissioned this desk, which spans 91/2 feet across the wall.
Gatling Design
They even made the most of storage in the master bath — the cabinet on the left is seven feet tall and 30 inches deep. “It is just like a giant dresser,” Gatling says. The mirrors on the right conceal 8-inch-deep drug cabinets, along with the shuttered door retains everyday items such as toothbrushes.
Beadboard cabinets remain in keeping with the time. Matching the floor and backsplash tiles helped streamline the space. The counters are Alba Chiara marble.
Mirrors: Roburn
Gatling Design
Because the couple had no interest in using a bathtub, the shower is a generous 4 by 5 feet, and there was space for another toilet room. There is a bathtub in the guesthouse.
“You’ve got to listen closely to clients and the words they choose,” Gatling says. “These clients didn’t need a brand-new house, nor did they need a complete recovery.”
The outcome is something between, with the best of the two approaches: a comfortable, energy-efficient home filled with charming touches that respect its history and circumstance, without any of the not-so-wonderful vintage elements such as low ceilings and dark, cramped rooms.
Next: Explore 20th century minimalist traditional home designs