With summer just around the corner, it’s time to think about how to make the most of every square foot of sunny space. Here are some great ideas on how to do it, as well as resources and inspiration.
If you have always dreamed of owning a home in Napa or Sonoma or nearby, At home in Wine Country (Gibbs Smith, Aug. 24) It deserves a place at the coffee table. Authors Heather Sandy Hebert and Chase Reynolds Ewald take readers inside 17 swoon-worthy new wine country homes by elite architects and designers — and the photography is breathtaking.
The design of the homes is deeply in keeping with environments that range from sun-drenched vineyard valleys to forested hillsides with challenging rock formations. Space Editor Liz Logan sat down with the authors to discuss what makes the new architecture of the wine country so special. Read more.
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The live virtual event “The Art of Living Outdoors” at SPACES brought together three experts in design and horticulture to discuss how Covid-19 has changed life outdoors, and what the future looks like.
We are joined by Jesse Harrison, Director of international design firm Harrison Design (see one of their projects here); Heather Sandy Hebert, Branding Consultant and Author At home in Wine Country (photos here); and Ben Leinhardt, author North Shore Gardens in Chicago (Photos here) and Honorary Chair of the Garden Conservancy. Read more.
Triathletes are fanatical by nature. Swimming, cycling and then jogging for miles requires dedication, and of course, a great gym where one can train when the weather isn’t conducive to cycling or running outside. Jim Westover, Partner and Principal at San Francisco-based William Duff Architects, recently completed a home gym for a triathlete that’s more stylish than your average basement corner.
“We started working for these clients in 2010 when we remodeled the family’s main home,” he says of the project, which is located on the San Francisco Peninsula. “This renovation included an important addition, a gut remodel to the existing home and a new garage with room that could be used as a gym.”
Westover and his team are known for award-winning residential renovations and new construction, as well as commercial projects such as retail stores and wineries. In love with renovating their home, clients contacted Westover and asked him to add an addition to the garage, which would replace the relatively small gym with a first-class training center for the husband, a dedicated athlete and tech pioneer. Read more.
The abrupt switch to working from home during the pandemic has highlighted the value of flexibility when it comes to design. These pieces of furniture work both indoors and out, and offer plenty of options when it comes to changing the look of your home. Read more.
After renting vacation homes in the Sonoma Valley community of Glen Ellyn for more than a decade, San Francisco real estate developer Howard Epstein and interior designer Tami Epstein have found a long-loved property they’re about to bring to market. “We’ve been looking at this property through the gate for many years, but we haven’t seen anyone there,” says Tami. “Then, one day we saw a sign selling a property, and we went straight. We knew it was the sign.” Despite several bidders, the couple succeeded in purchasing the house, and they closed on Thursday. They picked up the keys on Saturday, spent some time at home and walked home, then locked up and headed home, excited about their new home. Read more.
The perfect home design happens with many iterations. The Sullivan-Newman family’s journey began in 2016, with a major remodel of their home’s interior décor.
Now, four years later, they have completed the final touches – expanding their outdoor living space.
After they put their 2-year-old son, Axl, and 1-year-old daughter MJ to bed, Morgan Newman (co-founder of Cora, an organic women’s products company) and Katie Sullivan (Senior Vice President at Yelp) often open up their craft beer. Handcrafted and plunged into the hot tub on their deck, which, thanks to their timber-clad home’s location atop a steep hill, has great views of Mount Tamalpais. “Living here feels like it’s on vacation,” Sullivan explains. Read more.
Watch any HGTV Offer home improvement and you quickly realize that the cost of remodeling in Marin County doesn’t quite match prices in the rest of the country. In fact, a luxury kitchen can cost as much as a prefab in other parts of the United States “For projects in Marin, you’re looking at renovation costs between $400 and $600 per square foot,” says Michael McCutcheon, owner of Berkeley-based McCutcheon Constructions. He adds that this is only a rough estimate. “We have done jobs that cost the owner at least $250 per square foot to $2,000 per square foot. It depends on the owner’s expectations.”
Although the costs are steep, there is an upside to living in one of the nation’s most expensive real estate markets: “Every dollar you spend on a kitchen or bathroom remodel brings back up to $4 per square foot in resale value,” says Thomas Dreyer, President of the San Rafael-based Marine Realtors Association. There’s also value in simpler projects like creating an easy-to-use entryway, updating the floors, re-lighting, landscaping, or just painting, assuming you don’t overdo the neighborhood improvement. “The scales are clearly different for a modest home in Terra Linda and a luxury home in Belvedere,” says Dreyer.
Exact costs depend on a range of factors, including range, finishes, and how much hand you need. The inclusive price tag for a DIY project, for example, will save you much less cash than those that involve architects, engineers, contractors, and interior designers.
No matter the price, the noise, chaos, and general interruptions in your daily life during a complete remodel are too much for some homeowners. As an alternative, consider a soft remodel—that doesn’t require construction, but can still go a long way toward making an old home feel new. The results that you can achieve simply by renewing the paint, floors, fixtures, and window treatments can be amazing, especially if you’re looking for new furniture. “This is why I encourage customers to rent a storage device when it’s time to sell,” Dreyer says. Read more.