Whole Home Rebuild・Mountain View

The Plan

The brief was clear: Tear down the struggling existing structure, then build a new contemporary space that’s designed to last, and that better reflects the homeowners’ growing family and vision for the future.

In short, this was going to be their ‘forever’ home. Every decision is important, no matter the project, but when we know we’re building something that our clients intend to enjoy for decades, every decision becomes that much more meaningful.

Challenges

Beneath every house is the story of its geological past. Mountain View — and the other towns that hug the coastline of the Bay — were once silty marshland. With soil not unlike wet sand, we weren’t surprised to see that the existing slab foundation had cracked significantly from years of expansion and contraction — like pieces of a broken raft on the water, each pulling the house in a different direction.

Ground movement was inevitable. With an eye toward preventing that movement from undermining the home we were about to build, we took extra care to ensure that the joints between new and old foundation were especially strong — and that the finished product would (to the best of its ability) move as one solid unit.

Every decision we made thereafter depended on operating from a strong foundation.

The details

The homeowners, with the guidance of their architect and an interior designer, selected a modest range of tasteful, modern finishes: Hardwood floors, Shaker cabinets, marble countertops, and a gentle palette of muted colors to compose a space that exuded a sense of joyful calm.

From the majestic raked windows on the exterior wall that look out on a brand new patio, to the custom bookcase that would double as a small shrine for the holidays, to the unique mosaic tile in the Bathrooms, every space was designed to maximize function, inspire a quiet sense of beauty, and feel like home.