Pro Portfolio: A Spanish remodel in Santa Monica

Architect: Deborah Teltscher, (310) 991-3719, djteltscher@gmail.com

Lansdcape designer: Katherine Glascock

Location: Santa Monica

Goals: To add a second story, a home office with a separate entrance and an outdoor play area.

Architect's description: The existing one-story house was a small (1,944-square-foot) Spanish-style single-family home built in 1942. The rectangular lot slopes about six feet from the street to a rear alley and is next to a Rite-Aid drugstore parking lot. The challenge was to add a second story, an office with a separate patient entrance for the husband, who is a psychiatrist and sees patients at home, and to create a safe outdoor play space for the couple's two children, screening them from view of the patients and the parking lot next door.

The design includes a new front entry hall; a reworked kitchen/family/dining room; a home office for the wife, a physician; two children's rooms with shared bath; and guest room/bath upstairs.

The existing master suite was remodeled and enlarged to include a walk-in closet, window seat/ dressing area and a domed ceiling. The existing detached garage was demolished and a new garage was added at the alley, with a new basement underneath and the office for the husband on top.  With the additions, the home now totals 5,250 square feet. To see more photos, click to the jump ...

Photo: Architect Deborah Teltscher created an arched entry hall for the house where previously there was none; arriving guests walked directly into the dining room. The new front door is at the left; the glass-paned door on the right leads to the living room. Credit: Pete Bleyer.

Photo: In the living room, Teltscher installed a vintage beam and new corbels to complement the original blue tiles around the fireplace. Built-in bookshelves were added, as well as the pull-out cabinet in the corner of the room used to store the family's stringed instruments. Credit: Pete Bleyer.

Photo: The original kitchen, family room and dining room were gutted and the spaces combined to create an open plan. Carved Guatemalan columns, which the owners found, frame the opening to the kitchen. Recycled wood from Pennsylvania and North Carolina was used for the cathedral ceiling and floor. Folding glass doors by Architectural Traditions open the room to an outdoor dining area. Credit: Pete Bleyer.

Photo: The office, which sits atop the new garage, has a separate entrance for patients. Because privacy was important, acoustical consultants were called for sound-proofing. The fireplace is limestone. The windows are from Architectural Traditions. Credit: Pete Bleyer.

Photo: French doors were added to the master bedroom, at right, to open it to the new terrace. A low L-shaped wall, covered with Moroccan tiles, provides extra seating in garden. Credit: Pete Bleyer.

Photo: At the rear of the property, Katherine Glascock designed a long walkway paved with concrete Moroccan tiles. It leads patients to the door, at left, and staircase to the office. Glazed handmade tiles cover the retaining wall, turning it into a long, low planter that Glascock filled with salvia, silver thyme, kalanchoe and senecio. The neighbor's garage wall was stained a rust color to complement the tiles.  Credit: Baylis Glascock.

Photo: The small fountain at the end of the passageway is covered with antique blue and terracotta tiles. Credit: Baylis Glascock.

-- Anne Harnagel

Top two photo credits: Pete Bleyer

Comments

[Urbashi Mitra]

This addition/re-model is simply wonderful -- you cannot tell that there was an addition made -- it is seamless. Teltscher has really captured the feel of the family as evidenced by the synchrony of the home and the furnishings. The landscaping is also stunning.

[marilyn Sanders]

The remarkable thing about this remodel is that every aspect of the home is harmonious. The site is urban, but once inside there is a sense of calm, elegance and at the same time--comfort. The selection of materials, always of great importance, is cohesive so that wherever one looks, all the elements flow seamlessly from one to the next. Just looking at the photographs, one senses an organic aesthetic in the design that is enormously appealing. Though the house is meant for a family with young children, it seems that there are unique provisions for the interests and needs of everyone.
I give it a major thumbs up!

[Mosaic Tiles suppliers]

Wow! This is fantastic. Great turnout!