Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Architectural Details Revive a 1914 Craftsman
A home makeover in Berkeley, California, mixes period details and modern comforts
Before. The original 1914 house featured a white stucco exterior on the lower two floors and painted wood siding on the top floor.
After. Rogers brought in all of the paneling in the entryway and the stairwell to add historic character with a modern twist. “The way it’s detailed is very geometric, so it’s fresh and more contemporary,” she says.
The living room centers on a fireplace encased in custom stained glass mosaic tile. The stained glass was cut by hand and glued onto mesh, as is done with mosaic tile, before it was installed. “The photo does not do it justice,” Rogers says, “So much light comes out of it.”
Bifold doors leading to the backyard make the living room a great party space. While the fog coming off the bay chills the front of the house, the back stays warmer and sunnier, so the family is able to keep the back doors open for much of the year.
Bifold doors leading to the backyard make the living room a great party space. While the fog coming off the bay chills the front of the house, the back stays warmer and sunnier, so the family is able to keep the back doors open for much of the year.
This family of readers also really wanted a window seat in the living room. The window seat has a little charging station that enables them to curl up with an e-reader and never have to worry about running out of power. “It’s fun too, because you’re kind of above the street, so when you sit in the window seat, you can observe from your little perch,” Rogers says.
The kitchen is short on upper cabinets but long on windows. Rogers wanted to make the space feel “kind of eclectic,” so she opted for open shelves and a custom hood, and had the island and cabinets painted different colors. The countertops also bring some contrast, with butcher block on the island and soapstone counters with an integral farmhouse sink around the perimeter.
The homeowners found the industrial light fixture above the island. It has a neat pulley system the family uses to raise and lower the light to change the mood in the kitchen.
Find industrial light fixtures
The homeowners found the industrial light fixture above the island. It has a neat pulley system the family uses to raise and lower the light to change the mood in the kitchen.
Find industrial light fixtures
The backsplash tile is oriented diagonally behind the range to mimic a look the homeowners had liked in their previous home.
“This is the powder room everyone sees, so we wanted it to be a little special,” Rogers says. When she couldn’t find a right-size sink for the original vanity, Rogers had one custom-made from soapstone. The traditional latch on the mirror is something often found in the 1920s. It’s a particularly good feature in California, because it keeps the mirror door closed during earthquakes.
The stair landing on the upper floor is a place for hanging out, reading a book or taking a nap. “There are a lot of hangout spots in the house: window seats, the balcony, the breakfast area. It’s great for having a lot of visitors, because there’s somewhere for everyone to go,” Rogers says.
The open stairwell is awash in natural light from six skylights. “It’s such a surprise, because you have no idea when you’re heading up the stairs that there will be this flood of light,” Rogers says. The skylights are solar-operated, with remote-controlled window coverings so the family can control the temperature of the house by adjusting the settings of the skylights and shades.
The children share this upstairs bathroom. The steam shower’s glass enclosure goes all the way to the ceiling to create a real sauna environment. “There’s a control panel on the wall under the window, so you can sit on the bench and fill [the shower] with steam,” Rogers says. She tiled and sloped the ceiling so that when the steam rises, it runs down instead of condensing into heavy droplets that fall on the bather.
Downstairs are a guest room, bathroom, media room, laundry, workout space and home office. Oak barn doors can close in the media room for movie watching. The home’s bottom level is packed with storage features, such as a built-in wine shelf at the stair landing and a wall full of bookshelves and closets in the media room (in the background).
The homeowners are closely connected to their extended family, so they wanted a house big enough where both their college-bound kids and visiting relatives could comfortably stay. The guest bathroom has a curbless shower. The floor tile is by Ann Sacks, accented with wall tile from Fireclay and a concrete countertop.
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More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of four
Location: Berkeley, California
Size: 3,400 square feet (316 square meters)
Architect: Kathy Rogers of Sogno Design Group
Designer: Leslie Harris-Keane Interior Design
When the homeowners found this 1914 fixer-upper, the main thing going for it was location. The home is set in an established, walkable neighborhood with views of the San Francisco Bay. Other than that, the property was a bit of a gamble. The house hadn’t been remodeled “maybe ever,” architect Kathy Rogers says, and just about every square inch needed a face-lift, from the interior layout right down to the foundation.
While the style of the original house could be described as vaguely Craftsman, the homeowners loved the idea of adding more traditional Craftsman character to the exterior. Rogers worked hard to find authentic compromises between architectural purism and contemporary building standards. For example, current codes require balconies to have at least 42-inch-high guard rails, but an original Craftsman “never would have had a guardrail that tall,” Roger says. So she visually broke up the top-floor balcony with a metal railing atop the wood one. “It gives you a sense of Craftsman proportions,” she says.
The garage stonework is faithful to the original stone retaining walls, while the top of the garage leans more modern with corrugated steel planter boxes that mimic a green roof and help the home blend into the hillside.