Owners:  Gary Hermansen, Mary Gates
Architect: Jonathan Pearlman, Elevation Architects

Homeowner Summary
Built: 1955; Extensive Re-model: 2007
Square Footage: 3,300

Mary has loved modern design for as long as she can remember.  A couple of significant memories include a walking tour of Wright's Oak Park houses when she was in college, and seeing pictures of Philip Johnson's Glass House.  Gary has long been influenced by Scandinavian design, with his Danish heritage.  Also, his father was an importer of Scandinavian furniture.   He was used to seeing clean lines and modern design from an early age.

Design Problem: How to create a clean, modern home to take advantage of the Peninsula’s sunny, warm weather and enjoy our indoor/outdoor lifestyle. How to work with our existing house to realize improved function while creating space for more family interaction, yet at the same time, more privacy.  After several costly requests for proposals over previous years, the key to our solution was finding the right architect.  Elevation Architects’ Jonathan Pearlman understood the scope of the problem immediately. He was the first architect to design a solution that, for the most part, left the rooms in their original locations, while fulfilling our wish list.  While we didn’t want to start from scratch and build from the ground up, we did hope that given the extent of our desires, we would feel as if we built new.

Solutions:

• Remodel the existing structure; utilize the house’s foundation and footprint to the extent possible; minimize the expansion; maintain a single-story
• Explore new systems for energy efficiencies – tankless water heaters, new windows, new roof and new insulation; replace HVAC equipment
• Removing interior walls and raising the ceiling from 8’ to14’ opened up the main living area, which contains the kitchen, living room, dining area and family room. In addition, an 8’-6” x 15’ Alvista door and clerestory windows flood the room with light.
• The high ceiling in the middle part of the house, over the kitchen and living room gives the space an expansive feeling.
• The 5-panel Alvista door opens the full length of the living room onto an expansive and integrated patio for entertainment and enjoyment of the backyard (we love to Bar-B-Q!).
• The east side of the living room and family room was moved out 6’-0” giving us more floor space and adding circulation around our existing fireplace. Now the family room feels connected to our daily activities, not isolated at the end of the house.
• The wall that divided the kitchen from the living room, leaving the cook busy but lonely, was removed. This allows views through the house from the front to the deep back yard.
• The master bedroom suite was enlarged, and a new master bath added.  The bathroom is light-filled and open, due in part to a large skylight.  A unique-shaped reading room was designed as an addition to the master suite. It is oriented with views of the back yard, yet private from the main living areas.
• Our teenage daughter’s bedroom was enlarged by incorporating what was a narrow hallway into the space giving her another large closet and more floor space; she now has a more private “suite” made up of her bedroom, a full bath and the front bedroom.
• The modern design vocabulary is fresh and distinguished, yet honors the form and setting of traditional ranch-style homes in the neighborhood.