In 1910 this house was built in a railway town in the East Bay area near San Francisco. Twenty decades after a basement was dug out under the whole construction to provide more distance during the prewar era. The basement, nevertheless, was accessible only from the outside.
The house remained in this state for decades before the current owners got their hands on it decided to add to the property, using a keen attention on energy efficiency. The brand new addition celebrates the house’s past and future with a cohesive link to every one of its elements.
at a Glance
Who lives here: Paul Welschmeyer, founder of Paul Welschmeyer Architects & Energy Consultants; his wife, Jana Gunsul, principal and director of interior design at DES Architects + Engineers; and their two sons
Location: Historic Niles District of Fremont, California
Size: 2,000 square feet, including the 1,000-square-foot addition
Paul Welschmeyer ARCHITECTS & energy consultants
When architect Paul Welschmeyer and interior designer Jana Gunsul moved in, they teamed their extensive design skills to expand their conventional century-old house (the abandoned portion faces the street) using a modern-style addition in the trunk (right).
The few worked in accordance with the stringent Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. This resulted in the retention of their house’s unique form and roofing, which the couple always wished to preserve anyhow. “It’s like using a grandfather and grandson residing on exactly the exact same property,” notes Welschmeyer. “They’re both vital but have different outlooks on life.”
Paul Welschmeyer energy consultants & ARCHITECTS
The backyard has the best vantage point of the new addition, which includes a decidedly contemporary feel. The windowed side appears right into the family’s summer living space, described as such to distinguish it in the family’s winter living space, which features a 1910 fireplace. Another half of the addition (on the ideal side of the photo) is the master bedroom suite, veiled by a structural absolute wall. Along with providing strength to the house, the wall serves as a clever privacy screen.
Paul Welschmeyer energy consultants & ARCHITECTS
The summertime livingroom benefits from abundant windows which flood the space with light in the south. Radiant slab concrete flooring keep it warm in winter. The “floating” media center is made from Ikea upper kitchen cabinets topped with a 1/4-inch-thick slab of Corian. The ceiling’s Sheetrock is coated with cedar decking boards to absorb sound that pops off the area’s hard materials.
The addition gives convenient interior accessibility into the basement. While not counted as part of the house’s square footage, the basement accommodates your family’s storage requirements. This is vital, as the property doesn’t have a garage.
Paul Welschmeyer ARCHITECTS & energy consultants
The bright, airy master bedroom suite doesn’t need window treatments, due to Welschmeyer’s positioning of a cedar-sided wall which keeps its occupants from being seen by neighbors while still letting light and warmth in.
A white leather chair sits in a restful reading niche, also a space for practicing yoga. Both tones of the room give the space a yin-yang feel.
Paul Welschmeyer energy consultants & ARCHITECTS
Despite the master bath’s big windows on the other side of the bathtub, the toilet is shrouded in privacy. The visual barrier which enables the owners to wash without neighbors peeping in comes in the house (not the fencing) by means of horizontal planks. “This design is the closest thing to an outdoor spa without the expenses of having a spa,” Welschmeyer states.
Paul Welschmeyer ARCHITECTS & energy consultants
The concrete flooring continues onto the patio and causes a grove of fruitless mulberry trees and basalt rocks from the old Dumbarton Quarry neighboring to provide a park-like setting. “One hundred percent of this property is helpful,” Welschmeyer states. “There is no garage so the blue shed gives us just the ideal amount of space for our tools. No area is wasted.”
This summer the couple’s backyard played host to some series in the Niles Home Concert Series. The band played the landing while 100 guests sat comfortably on the grass and patio to enjoy the performance.
Paul Welschmeyer ARCHITECTS & energy consultants
The kitchen is part of the 1910 structure. At the time of the addition, it also was given an update to reflect the modern tastes of their household. The kitchen, like the rest of the first house, was refloored with sheet linoleum by Forbo Linoleum.
Ikea cabinetry gives the space a fresh, updated feel.
Paul Welschmeyer ARCHITECTS & energy consultants
Despite the house’s decreasing in size, the couple’s energy bill went up. “I applied building science,” states Welschmeyer. “This addition carefully takes advantage of the summer and winter sunshine positions and the way warm and cool air motions to provide natural ventilation. We planted mature trees accordingly in order to keep the home cool during summer by about 5 levels, thus we don’t need A/C. These apparently little details add up to a lot of energy efficiency.”