Many older Marin homes were added onto over time, either by the homeowners or by others and usually in a rather ad-hoc way. This home was originally a Sears kit home that had been bastardized over time with little thought of how it was to be used by its occupants or its relationship to the outdoors. The kitchen was dark, the bedrooms were strewn across the house, the lower level was only accessible via an external stair and the deck had one little door connecting it to the interior spaces.

This project consisted of a small addition at the front of the house, an internal stair connecting the two floors and a complete gut and rethinking of the entire layout. The result is an open floor plan with selectively located wood screens that help define particular spaces without cutting them off from other spaces. The kitchen is light-filled and now part of the public space of the house, reflecting the way we now live and entertain. The lower level is accessed via an interior stair with a continuous vertical wood screen element that helps visually connect the two levels. This space can be closed off for guests or for gaming.

The new open plan is more conducive to indoor / outdoor living and takes advantage of stunning valley and hill views which were previously mostly ignored. The large sliding patio doors hide away into the wall allowing the deck to become a fully accessible outdoor room, partially covered by a slatted steel trellis.

The connection of the two levels was a particular challenge in that we were dealing with a relatively small floor plate and stairs take up a lot of real estate. carefully placing this stair was paramount to making the entire plan functional.

Connection to the existing rear deck was also important to help take advantage of the rear yard and the views. Replacing a wall of smaller windows and a door with a sixteen foot wide siding door that hides into the thickened wall makes the deck a true extension of the living room on nice days.