The house was built in 1936 in the English Tudor Revival-style with a stucco and timber framing facade, and heavy cedar shakes pitched roof. The interior of the house contains beamed ceilings in the living room and wood-paneled walls in the sunroom. Ironwork and intricate ceramic tile in the house were created at the nearby Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park.
Preserving the Footprint to Conserve Resources
Timeline Design designer Keith Quiggins and project manager Lynn Kingsbury maximized the 2780 square footage footprint by updating the kitchen and bathrooms, and adding a family room and adjacent powder room. Ceiling beams made of engineered wood were added to the family room to match the original beams in the living room. The beams are made of particleboard with a thin veneer of hardwood instead of large-dimensional lumber.
Maximizing the interior space while maintaining the square footage of the house reduced energy costs. The openness of the new design improves air circulation and maximizes the natural light. Not expanding the footprint also reduced the amount of building material, which conserved natural resources.
Restoring Architectural Elements to Conserve Resources
A unique quality of the house is the ceramic tile crafted at the Allied Arts Guild. During the renovation, damaged tiles were removed, repaired, and professionally cleaned. The kitchen backsplash tile was reused in the new powder room and shower floor mosaic tile was used to repair the floor in the entryway. New recycled glass shower tile by Modwalls complements the original floor and wall tile in the master bathroom. Outdoor mosaics created from some of the damaged tile will be in the garden.
The original windows in the house are handcrafted wrought-iron windows with single pane glass that open out. The windows are architecturally significant to the house but not well insulated from outside temperatures. Custom designed storm windows with energy-efficient acoustic glass from Serious Materials were installed on all the windows. The new storm windows fasten to the original windows by a magnetic frame and detach to let in fresh air. The original front door was rebuilt with glass panes to bring in natural light. On the sunny side of the house, PVC-free shades provide UV protection and reduce heat transfer from the outside.
Choosing Sustainable Materials to Conserve Resources
Sustainable materials have been used in the home since 1936. Broken terracotta roof tiles from the Allied Arts Guild pave the entryway and rear sunroom. Recurve (formerly Sustainable Spaces) installed radiant floor heating underneath the broken tiles because the material holds heat well.
“Clinkers”, over-baked bricks that brick manufacturers discarded because they were not a uniform shape, are used were used in the original construction of the house. The bricks became popular in the early 20th century when avant-garde architects started building with them because they were so unusual.
Global resources were conserved by selecting products for the house that use recycled or sustainable materials. The Modwalls glass mosaic tiles are made of 98% pre-consumer recycled glass from building windows and windshields. In the kitchen and office bathroom, ConcreteWorks countertops are from 75% recycled curbside glass in cement with fly ash. In the powder room, the TorZo countertop is made of Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI)-certified, “No Added Urea Formaldehyde” (NAUF) wood chip material. The Sustainable Forest Initiative is an independent program incorporating third party certification to protect the economical, environmental, and social needs of US forests and surrounding communities. Pacific Crest cabinets were installed in the kitchen. The cabinets are made from sustainably harvested and managed Obeche and Koto trees, harvested and milled within 500 miles of the company factory. The cork flooring in the kitchen, family room, and adjacent powder room is a sustainable material harvested from the bark of the cork oak tree. It is also a thermal and acoustic insulator and does not absorb air particulates.