The Architect Is In: A Renovation with Respect in Palo Alto - Remodelista
This week, San Francisco architect Mark Reilly takes us on a tour of a historical house he renovated in Palo Alto, California. Unless otherwise noted, photography by Peter Medilek. The project was all about capitalizing on the strong bones of the two structures (designed by noteworthy Bay Area architect Charles Kaiser Sumner, who had worked for the legendary New York firm McKim, Mead and White at the turn of last century). The existing cooking niche in the kitchen is a good summary of Reilly’s approach to the renovation. Reilly added zinc counter tops with thick square fronts to create a classic, but modern heat resistant surface on each side of the range. The running bond tile pattern of the 3×6 subway tiles has been set off with gray grout. “Traditionally, the ends of subway tile are finished with quarter round or bull nose tile,” says Reilly. A series of small design moves update the kitchen for modern use. Complementary new glass-faced upper cabinets were designed in keeping with the base cabinets and aligned with the adjacent windows, creating reflected light and unifying the visual appearance of the kitchen. “For the counter top which was originally formica, the client wanted a material that didn’t ‘clink’ when glass or serving ware was placed on it,” Reilly says. Photograph by Mark Reilly. In the living room, the architect added new windows to improve the connection with the garden outside and to bring in more natural light. “The entry stair was preserved out of respect for the existing home,” Reilly says. The tiles in the bathrooms of both the main house and the cottage is a play of the classic combination of subway tile and hexagonal floor tile, a popular tile combination in buildings of the late 20’s. The cottage bathroom is comprised of a mixture of old and new elements. The considered placement of the medicine cabinet (centered on the existing window behind), which was designed to match an existing one in the main house, means a view of the garden and more natural light is made available to the bathroom. In the small footprint of the cottage bathroom, Reilly introduces copious amounts of natural light through a custom wall-to-wall skylight over the entire shower and tub area, making it feel bigger and brighter. In the living room and bedroom of the guest cottage, Reilly raised the ceiling to the roof framing and added the bay window to make the space seem more spacious within the same footprint. Photograph by Mark Reilly. Photograph by Mark Reilly. “We clad the cottage walls and ceiling in V-groove painted boards to add texture and reference the outbuildings from this era,” Reilly says. Photograph by Mark Reilly. A view of the rear of the house with its garden shows the new standing seam metal “cool” roof which is energy efficient and long lasting while providing a good base for the new solar hot water panels which would have been difficult to install within the existing uninsulated shaker roof. The new bay window and window seat which were added to the guest cottage can be seen in the far right of the photos.