This Beach House is Getting Curb Appeal

Our beach house renovation is starting to move forward again!

Last year we renovated the last of a half-dozen decks.

Because this deck is ocean facing and subject to harsh elements, we bit the bullet and had custom stainless steel hangers and stainless screws installed.

Beach House Deck Renovations!

It seems like forever since we've blogged about our beach house renovations!  After collecting many bids, and interviewing many contractors, we are ready to renovate our main ocean facing deck.

After the initial craziness of buying the partially gutted and dilapidated house, and having it raised nine feet, and having the gutted portion remodeled, we "chilled" for a while -- at first, so we could enjoy time with our daughter and new grandbaby, who were staying with us while our son-in-law was in Afghanistan.

Then there were job and life changes that made it impossible to spend as much time at the beach house as we had initially planned.... We keep plugging along, however. We made masonry repairs to our fireplace, and patched the flagstone floors. Read about our flagstone floors here.

Last year, we did an energy audit, and made lots of changes based on the report we received.  Most of the changes involved copious amount of caulk and foam, but we also added outlet gaskets and lots more insulation, and we replaced the rest of our windows.

The house is now really comfortable, and not drafty anymore -- we can even walk barefoot on the flagstone floors, and they aren't cold!  Read about our energy audit here.

Plans for this year include finally renovating the last of six decks!  The other decks were either removed, replaced, enclosed, or repaired during the first phase of the project, but this last deck was quite a bit more complicated, and got shoved to a back burner when the grandbaby came along... then winter came, then a renovation of another home, then another.... and the poor, sad neglected deck just sat there!

We've made some changes to the design, since I drew up this early concept, but it will still be a lovely place to sit and enjoy a cup of tea... or a nap... or chat... or a good book.  Here's a secret about beaches in the Pacific Northwest: they may be cold and dark and wet and windy all the long winter, but they are amazing in the summer!  Shhhhhh, don't tell, okay?

I cannot begin to tell you how I look forward to being able to spend summer weekends enjoying this deck!

Next project: Exterior priming, painting, and staining (I'm sure the neighbors will be glad)!

Have you lived through a renovation?  What tips and advice do you have for others who are contemplating going through the remodel process?

Awesome Re-Purposed Quonset Huts!

Adaptive re-use architectural projects have come into their own in recent years, but they are by no means new. People have been adapting existing spaces to their own purposes since cave dwelling days.
Green building trends have brought adaptive re-use to the forefront of design, and made it hip, trendy, and even mainstream. One favorite building for adaptive re-use is the humble WWII era Quonset hut.

(This post is participating in the Blogging A to Z Challenge. Q is for Quonset. See the link in the sidebar.)

The Quonset hut was seen as an answer to the post WWII housing crunch. This old Popular Science cover illustrates how Quonset huts could be adapted to fill the housing gap.

One old Quonset hut, that had previously been adapted to use as a home, has recently been given a contemporary remodel, as shown below.

You can see from the "before" picture below that the home has undergone a dramatic change!

This view into the library from the kitchen shows the original bones of the Quonset hut structure, as well as a new addition.

The dining room manages to have a traditional vibe while staying true to it's original architecture.

This WWII Quonset hut was preserved as part of a mixed-use development in Santa Monica. The patina of the exterior of the building was preserved, while the interior was completely remodeled.

Killefer Flammang Architects

The architect owners of this made-over Quonset hut used corrugated metal in their kitchen to reference the exterior of their home.

Industrial Kitchen by Atlanta Architects & Designers Frederick + Frederick Architects

Contemporary Living Room by Atlanta Architects & Designers Frederick + Frederick Architects

Quonset huts were adapted to lots of different uses, including restaurants, churches, dry cleaners, studios, primary residences and vacation homes.

Architect Darwin McCredie rescued a dilapidated old Quonset hut in Ojai and turned it into a bright spacious abode.

What do you think about adaptive re-use projects? Could a made over Quonset hut be your next dream home?

Big House Before and After Concept

The Problem:

There is a big house in my neighborhood that sits on the market for a lonnnnnngggg time every time an owner tries to sell it.  This house has been "remuddled" too many times over the years and has taken on the look of a lady who has has too much "work done".  You know what I'm talking about-- the tightly stretched skin, the too puffy lips, the absence of character lines.  This poor lady has had her face "lifted" to the point where she just doesn't have much character left (and we won't even talk about her most recent southwestern style remodel on the interior)!

Before a house can sell, you've got to get the buyer in the front door, and unfortunately, many potential buyers won't even get out of their car if the house doesn't look good from the curb.  So, just for fun, I gave her a quick "makeover!"  Her problem areas included the huge expanses of bright white stucco, unrelated roof-lines, slit-like windows, the blank stare that often results from enclosing a front porch, and an uncertain pedigree.  Oddly, although the front porch has craftsman-like bones, the body of the house appears to be four-square in style. Obviously, one of those "styles" is not original to the house.

Most definitely the hip dormer on the front of the house is not original, either.  It feels a little awkward because, honestly it isn't something people are accustomed to seeing in American Vernacular houses.  It almost wants to be a clerestory, but kind of wants to be a hip dormer-- basically, it's having an identity crisis.

The Solution:

It is not feasible to tear off the many additions this house has suffered over the last hundred years, so, working with her present bones, here is what I came up with.

First, let's address the porch.  The porch should be a feature.  So, let's emphasize its craftsman styling by calling attention to the massive columns, and by breaking up the expanse of stucco in the gable with "half-timbers."

Next, we should contrast the stucco portions of the facade with the window trim color to address the old house's "vacant stare".  Simply by contrasting the color value on the window trim and the stucco, we have turned the beautifully paned windows into a feature, and emphasized the porch's pedigree.

The final change to make to the porch would be to give the foundation some visual weight by painting it a slightly darker hue than the gable.  The most important part of this house's  face lift is the porch, because that is what will grab the eye, and distract the buyer from some of the house's odd architecture.

To address the house's slit-like windows, I'm recommending realistic looking shutters.  That ever-problematic expanse of white stucco can be broken up with very understated "half-timber" trim, and a subtle change in hue below the trim piece.

The "not a typical dormer, but not a clerestory, either" should be down-played to keep the interest on the porch.  We don't really want the body of the house to compete with the porch as focal point.  Rather, we want the body of the house to play a "supporting role".  Basically, just a  few changes can go a long way toward bringing grace and character back to this house's facade.

photo courtesy H. Brandt
I'm linking this post to Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, and to Alphabe-Thursday at Jenny Matlock's blog.