Residence 03

Lafayette, California

House: Nearly 5,000 sq ft on a wooded hillside lot
Construction: Nearly two years
Type: Renovation for resale
Plan: Original layout kept; no rooms added
Status: Recently completed
Foundation: Engineered retrofit by a licensed foundation contractor, inspected

01 · The house

A large Lafayette house with good bones, dated by a remodel from the 2010s.

Dark stained floors, stacked-stone fireplaces, carpeted stairs, and ornate iron doors. The layout, the light, and the setting in the trees were worth keeping. The finishes were not.

The great room before, with dark floors and a stacked-stone fireplace — The great room

The main stair before, carpeted — The main stair

The front entry before, with iron doors — The entry, before.

02 · The approach

Keep what works. Change what dates the house.

Where the existing work was sound, it stayed: the kitchen cabinetry, refinished with new countertops, the primary tub, and the structure of the stairs. The budget went first to what a buyer can’t see, the foundation, and then to the surfaces people live with every day, so the house reads as calm and current instead of a patchwork of eras.

03 · What changed

Lighter, quieter, and on solid ground.

Foundation: A geotechnical engineer and a structural engineer designed a retrofit: drilled concrete piers and a new footing at the rear addition, helical anchors under the garage where no drilling rig could reach, underpinning, and new shear walls. All of it was installed by a licensed foundation contractor and inspected before any finishes went in.
Floors and stairs: White oak throughout, with oak treads replacing the carpeted and dark-stained stairs.
Surfaces: New paint inside and out, reworked fireplace surrounds, new interior doors and hardware.
Entry: The ornate iron doors replaced with a simpler arched pair.
Kept and refinished: The kitchen cabinetry was kept and refinished, with new countertops. The primary tub stayed.