Houzz Tour: An Architect Renovates His Midcentury Home With Care
The California house had great bones and a pool for the kids. He opens up views and gives it a contemporary refresh
Camille LeFevre
March 3, 2018
Houzz Contributor. Arts journalist specializing in design and architecture. Former editor of Architecture Minnesota, editor of Innovative Design Quarterly, contributor to Midwest Home and HomeDish blog, contributor to Architect's Newspaper and author of the monograph Charles R. Stinson: Compositions in Nature. Have also written for Architect, ICON and Architectural Record. On my bucket list: Modernism Week in Palm Springs; happy to have done Modernism Week in Phoenix in 2017!! More at camillelefevre.org
Houzz Contributor. Arts journalist specializing in design and architecture. Former... More
Photos by Eric Rorer
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Architect David Henig, his wife and their two daughters
Location: Atherton, California
Size: Four bedrooms
Architect David Henig and his family had been eyeing this house for sale for a while, but they weren’t quite ready to pursue it. Then their real estate agent set up a private showing. Henig says once he was able to explore the property he gained a greater appreciation for its potential. “The original architect did an amazing job siting the house on the sloped lot,” Henig says. “It feels like you’re in a treehouse, but very private, with tons of midcentury appeal.”
The entrance to the house features an original covered walkway. To update the home’s curb appeal, Henig removed the asphalt that previously led up to the house, replacing it with native plants. Newly embedded lights in the aggregate walkway help the family and guests navigate the path at night.
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Architect David Henig, his wife and their two daughters
Location: Atherton, California
Size: Four bedrooms
Architect David Henig and his family had been eyeing this house for sale for a while, but they weren’t quite ready to pursue it. Then their real estate agent set up a private showing. Henig says once he was able to explore the property he gained a greater appreciation for its potential. “The original architect did an amazing job siting the house on the sloped lot,” Henig says. “It feels like you’re in a treehouse, but very private, with tons of midcentury appeal.”
The entrance to the house features an original covered walkway. To update the home’s curb appeal, Henig removed the asphalt that previously led up to the house, replacing it with native plants. Newly embedded lights in the aggregate walkway help the family and guests navigate the path at night.
The front door opens to the living room, where Henig kept the original ceiling trusses but stripped them and painted the steel plates gray. The Venetian plaster fireplace and rift-sawn white oak floor are a study in contrasts between the rustic and the refined. “After we moved in, we scraped walls and got rid of shag carpeting but lived in the house for about seven years to fully understand its potential before remodeling,” Henig says.
The home’s top floor includes the living, dining and kitchen spaces, which all open to the backyard through sliding walls of glass. The remodeled kitchen features a wall of cabinets with midcentury-inspired style. “We love the clean lines of the white cabinetry,” Henig says, adding that dashes of light blue and green help enliven the space. The butcher block top on the island is made out of maple, and a raised walnut slab is a popular spot for serving appetizers or eating breakfast.
A new glass-enclosed stairway features floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook a sunken garden. The stairs lead down to the family room on the lower level. Henig and his team excavated the land to the left of the enclosed stairway to create a small hill. Broken-up slabs of slate cover the hill to help regulate rainwater and provide another midcentury touch.
Before. The original stairway had windows that only went halfway down the wall. Grading the wooded area outside the window allowed the design team to add dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows.
The home’s four bedrooms are on the lower level. In the master bedroom, a commercial window-and-door system opens out to a bluestone patio and the backyard. The new gabion retaining wall is filled with concrete waste created during the construction process and faced with local stone.
Window and door system: Loewen
Window and door system: Loewen
Henig used Truwood, a veneer made out of oak, to cover the wall of cabinetry in the master bedroom. The door to the left leads to the master bathroom.
Henig also covered the master bathroom vanity cabinets in Truwood, and the countertops are marble. The tub surround is ipe wood. The floors are a mix of wood and black floor tiles by Heath Ceramics.
Browse decorative black floor tiles
Browse decorative black floor tiles
Before. The back of the original two-level house featured a painted brown exterior and decks with wood railings on both wings of the second floor.
After. The home’s exterior got a new gray-washed cedar siding and two new decks with metal railings. The gabion wall replaced the original wood retaining wall in the backyard.
Before. The original pool area located to the side of the house behind the carport was overgrown and lacked an inviting deck for sitting in the sun and gathering with family and friends.
After. Henig removed old plantings to create an open pool deck that now receives much more sunlight. He also added new multicolored ceramic tiles around the interior edge of the pool.
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
More home tours: Apartments | Small Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | All
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Wowza!!
Love this home!