Craftsman Chalet
Santa Monica, CA
In 1910, eminent architect Sumner Hunt designed a Craftsman chalet in one of Santa Monica’s most coveted and historically rich communities. When a young couple moved into the residence over a century later, they instantly fell in love with their new home’s historic character, but not with the spatial limitations its compartmentalized interiors imposed on their growing modern family.
The owners hired our studio to make historically sympathetic updates and additions to the existing property, which doubled the size of the home. Spaces that existed prior to expansion — which included the dining and living rooms — were renovated, rearranged and/or reinterpreted to ensure seamless transitions between the new and historic functions and design of this landmarked property.
The brand-new spaces include a cook’s kitchen with adjoining pantries, a bar, mudroom, family room, library and new rear porch overlooking a new pool and pool house, all ingeniously arranged to allow the gracious indoor-outdoor living synonymous with contemporary Southern California. We also changed a tiny subterranean chamber into an expansive finished basement, that now houses a screening room, gym, guest suite, laundry, powder room, recreation room and wine cellar. Designed to honor Hunt’s original architectural vocabulary throughout, this historic gem has now been transformed into a 21st-century home.