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Bungalow Renovation
Words and Deign by Landis Construction
The homeowners moved into this Palisades bungalow after falling in love with the house and its period styling, but they wanted to expand the living space to make it more comfortable for three growing children. To that end, we constructed a one-story addition to house an expanded kitchen, new family room, larger master suite with walk-in closet and bathroom. In addition we added a first floor powder room and a more open, airy stair to the second floor with ample closet and storage space.
The most challenging aspect of this project was designing new spaces for the way families live today while making peace with the existing house. Bungalowrooms are by nature modestly-sized and well-defined. Twenty-first century familiesare inclined towards open floor plans, eat-in kitchens, and large gathering spaces withvariably defined boundaries and functions. The goal in this home was to seamlessly meld the two design strategies together.
Our living room addition measures 16’x16’, ample size for a large couch and desk space for all the needs of a young family. The centered, wood-burning fireplace creates a focal point in the room and provided opportunity for more custom woodwork details to bring the style of the addition inline with the existing home. A large framed opening between the living room and kitchen helps to define the two spaces while still allowing for a very open feel to the rooms. In the master suite, the spaces are generously sized without becoming untenably large. By matching the existing house’s 9-foot ceiling height, the rooms immediately feel more grand and spacious.
Upon entering this remodeled bungalow, the change in the feel of the home is striking and immediately obvious. The open stair and warm woodwork invite one in to experience the home. While traveling through the comfortable spaces, the woodwork details all feel original and it is virtually impossible to tell where the existing house ended and our addition began. The rear of the house is flooded with light and a feeling of comfort and openness, providing this growing family with generous but modestly scaled spaces to grow and gather for years to come.
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Crafty Bungalow Facts
The word bungalow comes to us courtesy of India where people live in "banglas," low slung, thatch-roofed houses ringed by porches. Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene are generally regarded as the brother kings of the bungalow. They studied architecture at MIT, traveled to England during the Arts and Crafts Movement and set up shop in Pasadena. They not only designed homes but also the fixtures that went in them.
Crafty Links
Greene and Greene
The Magazine
The Furniture
The Movement
The Godfather
