It feels good to see this house sitting on a solid foundation after 100+ years.
It will have a new Accessory Dwelling Unit and improved workshop below along with new windows and siding throughout when all is finished.




Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, foundation, houses, process, victorian on October 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, bungalow, kitchen, Porch, remodel, small buildings on October 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Not 100% finished…but I visited last week and took some snapshots. This started as a kitchen remodel….but expanded into structural repairs of porch and roof, addition of a small porch on the back, and a tiny half bath in a strange little hallway. The owners chose many of the details themselves…lights, appliances, hardware etc, but McBride Construction and I pulled it all together.









Posted in Design Projects, Found Objects, tagged Berkeley, color, details, fun, historical styles, house, Sun Rays, sunrays, trim details, whimsy on July 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, Information, tagged Accessory Dwelling Units, Berkeley, Electrification, green, small buildings, Strawbale, tiny houses on May 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »
John McBride and I have two projects on this years tour. A strawbale accessory dwelling unit and a stick framed accessory dwelling unit. We are proud of both projects and put a lot of extra heart and soul into them. The tour is free. you just sign up HERE. I’ll be there to answer questions.




Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, lighting design, small buildings on August 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I went up to check out the lighting installation at the little music studio. Cable lighting can look very 80s…but sometimes it works well and allows for a very flexible solution. Exterior lights are large arts and crafts lanterns. No photo of the pathway lighting…stay tuned for a few more photos soon.


Posted in Design Projects, tagged accessory dwelling unit, ADU, appleply, Berkeley, kitchen, practical, small buildings on July 14, 2021| 1 Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, blacksmith, botanical, collaboration, craftswoman, details, hand forged, iron, patterns, process, stair, steel staris, whimsy on June 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I never managed to get any photos of this project….but it was a tiny addition and rearrangement of the south end of a house on two levels to better connect to the yard and maximize the south light. The centerpiece was a stair with botanical railing and thick wood treads. The blacksmith, Shawn Lovell recently gave me some progress photos that she took. Thanks Shawn! I’ll take a photo of the organic handrail she made for our place and post that next.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged accessory dwelling unit, ADU, Berkeley, details, green, lighting design, process, small buildings on June 15, 2021| Leave a Comment »
First here is a 3d model we built as a schematic design tool. A few things changed and not all the details are there, but you can get a sense of the overall layout.
This one was a rebuild of an existing garage. (We had to rebuild it to meet the energy standards for habitable space, but we had to keep it the same as the garage in footprint, height, and roofline. ) The owners wanted to keep it simple…and kind of traditional. We think it turned out well.
The heating is a Fujitsu minisplit, the insulation is beyond code including slab edge insulation, lighting is all LED, high efficacy, & high CRI. A spot HRV keeps the air fresh even when the owners are out of town.










Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, green building, process, small buildings, Strawbale on May 10, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I’ll just share the McBride Construction Photos of the sandy colored concrete sills on the strawbale:
www.instagram.com/p/COfuDyWH_s_/

Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, small buildings, stairs, storage on April 19, 2021| 1 Comment »