Three times as big, but that's not all; new master suite, dining room, family room … all without overwhelming the 36-year-old house - house remodeling

Sunset, June, 1990

"Triple the size, but make the changes seamlessly." Those were Laurie and David Bailard's goals when they decided to remodel their two-bedroom, one-bath house. Though the T-shaped house was modest (only 1,000 square feet), its lot was quite generous, and the Bailards felt they could add a master bedroom suite, formal dining room, informal sitting or family room, and entry hall without overwhelming it.

The remodel's design treats both the original house and the 2,000-square-foot addition (including garage) as parts of a larger whole. It's an expansive contemporary version of a Craftsman-style bungalow, inspired by the work of brothers Charles and Henry Greene in Pasadena in the early 1900s. Architect Edgar R. Dethlefsen of Portola Valley, California, expanded the kitchen and replaced the existing carport with a dining room. Opposite this wing, he added a detached garage, which opens to a covered walkway leading to the new master suite beside the living room. From the front, the expanded house appears U-shaped, with shed-roofed wings; these form a small courtyard in front of the main body of the house, which now has a shallow peaked roof. From the driveway, a path leads through the courtyard to a handsome new entry hall. At the rear of the house, divided from the living room by a series of shoji panels, lies the new family room, which opens to the garden; in a pinch, this room can be used for overnight guests. One of the existing bedrooms was slightly enlarged, and both rooms received new windows. To further unify the remodeled house, Dethlefsen made detailing consistent throughout. He designed interior light fixtures, windows, sliding panels, and built in shelving in the spirit of the Greenes' Japan-influenced style. He took particular care in highlighting the color and grain of the wood (vertical-grain fir), and in making the joinery expressive. r