credits: GDA architects, inc. – 2001

The renovation of this 1,600 sq. ft. ranch involved work on most of the floor plan with the addition of 350 sq. ft. of space. The clients loved to entertain, but the existing layout – with small rooms boxed in by doors and doorways along a narrow hallway – didn’t provide an open, informal, and fluid space for them to encourage guests to intermingle and socialize as they wished. Many times, they would discover that, by the end of an evening event, many of the guests had not even met each other, as groups would end up sectioned off across each room.

Additionally, they needed a way to supervise their children, all younger than 10, from the inside of the house when the children were outside in the pool.

These requests shaped our approach to the house design, and we seized the opportunity to expand the interior space. By shifting the axis of the house, we found a way for different areas to flow into each other without interruptions through doors and doorways. Moreover, it meant that the kitchen wall could be rotated and reoriented toward the pool to provide a lookout with small windows between the countertop and the underside of wall cabinets.