In Southern California today the availability of land for new construction is scarce. As a result many home owners find themselves living in aging accommodations not suited to their needs. Like the hundreds of thousands of other Southern California residence the solution may literally be in your own back yard. In past decades, when build able land was more available, developers allowed for larger parcels giving home owners far bigger yards than you find today. It was common to have lots of 10-13 thousand square feet where today most tracks range form 6-8 thousand square feet. What this affords the wanton home owner is the ability to add on to the house without dramatically impacting the existing homes utility during the building process. This allows the owner to live on site while construction is being carried out.

     In the next few pages we are going to take a look at one such addition/remodel that is quite typical of the expansion possible for many Southern Californians residence. 

History of the Home   
     The existing structure is located in the Historic district of Whittier, and was built in the early 1930’s.  During the 1987 Whittier earthquake, the house incurred damage forcing some structural repairs (We took this into account as we proceeded with the design phase of the project).  When the owners approached us about the project they voiced several desires they wanted to archive in this remodel. 

     The first desire the owners wanted to achieve was a great room feel commonly found in more contemporary home layouts.  Older homes tend to be more compartmentalized, splitting the house into traditional rooms such as dinning, living, and family rooms.  Modern floor plans are more open with fewer internal walls, which lends itself to greater interaction between occupants within the living space.

     The Owners second desire was to increase the interaction possible from the kitchen.  The kitchen is often the nerve center of the house, where occupants spend the majority of their waking time while at home.  The location of this kitchen was at the back of the house hidden away from the main trafficked areas.  They also wanted to update the look of the kitchen by adding granite countertops and Travertine flooring.

     The third effect the owners wanted to achieve was an aesthetically integrated addition to the structure.  In other words they didn’t want it to ‘look like an addition’.

     One additional requirement that the owners had was that they could remain living at home during the construction cycle.  Though at times this can be inconvenient to the occupants, it was quite feasible in this situation.