The proprietors of this Palo Alto, California, home have always been quite enthused about their house, a midcentury tract home built by visionary developer-builder Joe Eichler. Nevertheless, they needed more room for hanging out as a family. Enter John Klopf, an architect experienced in working together with Eichler houses, who aided his customers expand their […]

Designing a new house or renovating an existing house can be an ordeal. You’re likely going to encounter a complete array of emotions during the procedure, from enthusiasm, to confusion, to frustration, to exhaustion, to an overwhelming sense of achievement and gratification. But mostly confusion. If only there were a architect out there somewhere who […]

The way the inside of a house becomes trimmed out contributes greatly to its overall character. In many ways, a nicely thought-out trim design may make a plain-vanilla inside into something rich and complex, as well as architecturally dynamic. As Brent Hull of Hull Historical notes, trimming is one of the ways that you are […]

They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but this girl much prefers crossbuck doors. This spring my husband and I took on the task of sprucing up our garage, and although it is not my domain at all, I begged for new crossbuck doors. The crossbuck design features diagonal braces operating from opposite directions, […]

I’ll let you in on a little secret: All of architects enjoy minimalism — all of those. We firmly believe that good design comes from taking away the unnecessary elements and stripping the forms down to the barest essentials. Michelangelo once said, “Carving is simple. You simply go down to the skin and stop.” He […]