Opening Up
A. Blue print courtesy Garcia Studio Architects
B. Like many Eichler houses, this one wraps around an open atrium that puts outdoor living — and a window to the sky — at the center of the floor plan. The architect for the remodel enlarged the glazed openings into the atrium and replaced fixed panes with sliding doors.
A. As she did with other parts of the home, architect Lourdes Garcia reinforced the connection to the outdoors and admitted more natural light by opening up spaces, including the master bath. The overall effect is of abundant light and free-flowing space.
B. In the master bath, the skylight mirrors the shape of the tub, and a large sliding window extends the space to the outdoors.
Like many Eichler houses, this one wraps around an open atrium that puts outdoor living — and a window to the sky — at the center of the floor plan. Architect Lourdes Garcia capitalized on that resource by enlarging the glazed openings into the atrium and replacing fixed panes with sliding doors.
Combing out the nest of interior partitions that had accumulated through the years, Garcia joined the kitchen with the dining and living areas into a bright, airy great room and converted a dark pantry into an indoor/outdoor breakfast area. “We opened up the whole corner at that nook,” Garcia says, “so you can feel like you’re actually eating outside.”
A similar approach at the master bedroom, master bath, and secondary bath yielded larger spaces that open — via sliding doors or large sliding windows — directly to the outdoors.
—Bruce Snider is senior contributing editor at CUSTOM HOME and RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECT, sister publications of REMODELING.
