I’ve been on a little blog hiatus lately, but today I’m back in full force sharing the details of the 2015 Sunset Idea House. After all, what better way to come back than by bombarding you with some great design? You may remember my post from the 2014 Sunset Idea House, which was located in the quintessential Southern California beach town of Manhattan Beach. The 2015 Sunset Idea House is located in the upscale Hilltop neighborhood of Denver, CO and is packed with a ton of inspiration and original ideas.
Originally built as a 1954 midcentury ranch, it was owned by the same family until very recently. Architect Jonas Di Caprio of Design Platform happened upon the home during an estate sale, where it was being sold by its original owner, now 93 years old and a former furniture shop owner and design aficionado. Respectful of the original owner, Di Caprio had all remodel plans approved by the original owner before he proceeded with construction. Interior designer Megan Hudacky of cky designs was brought in to transform the interior of the home into the three-level 5100 square foot, 5 bedroom, 5.5 bath home that it is today, all with modern amenities with an eye to the home’s midcentury past. Jessica Lummus of Environmental Designs was brought in to transform the garden and did so by weaving drought-tolerant landscaping throughout the outdoor garden and entertaining/social spaces, linking the indoors with the outdoors.
As is typical with midcentury homes, an open floor plan is key in the living area. However, cky designs provided definition to the open living spaces by creating walls that still allow interaction between spaces.
The entry wall and screen were made by Design Platform’s cabinet and furniture shop ‘Platform Workshop’. The design idea was to create a feature wall that provides separation between rooms but is still semi transparent, and provides storage and warmth to the space.
The entry wall has a front entry wardrobe on one side with a living room media built in on the other. Half of the wall is made from vertical solid hickory beams that are spaced apart and draw light through the space. The hickory wraps around and becomes the wine bar niche off the kitchen and dining.
No detail was overlooked in the transformation of the 1950s ranch into the midcentury modern residence that it is today. Time was taken to not only complete the project, but to do it right.
Matching brick was painstakingly tracked down, and expert masons copied the original tuck/point work. Notes Jonas DiCaprio from Design Platform, “Keeping the new brick in plane with the original was a great challenge both structurally and in meeting current energy codes. We had to essentially build a concrete beam all the way around the house and used closed cell insulation to get proper insulation values. We added nearly a foot of extra ceiling height to the main floor as well with the structural system.”
The vibrantly tiled kitchen opens up the adjacent dining area while the tiled wall which extends to the floor and beyond the island provides a fresh pop of bold color agains the wood cabinetry and floors.
Various shades of cool blues and are used as accents to the neutral patterns and textures throughout the home.
Interior Designer Megan Hudacky furnished and decorated the house using a mix of her favorite up-and-coming and established local designers, artists, and artisans, creating a warm and inviting environment. Furthermore, vibrant warm tones of yellow, orange, and red are used sparingly throughout for punctuated bursts of color.
Perhaps my favorite vignette in the home is of this seemingly simple but rather complex composition of pattern, texture, and balance of contrasting color that creates energy and at the same time, tension within the room.
A horizontally laid herringbone pattern tile that is interjected with brown and white tile bring controlled chaos and irregularity to an otherwise predictable pattern.
More random pops of color to break up the monotony of a regular repeated hexagon tile pattern in one of the 5.5 baths.
As with last year’s Sunset Idea House, indoor/outdoor living and entertaining was a primary focus when designing the home. An outdoor kitchen, a rooftop patio, a fire pit, and vegetable garden make the outdoor spaces just as relevant as the spaces indoors.
The home’s basement level even hosts a colorful play room and theater room.
The Sunset Magazine 2015 Idea Home is open to the public from now through 9/13. For tickets and information, visit the Sunset Idea House website.
Now about the short blog hiatus, which I did with reason. As mentioned over the weekend on Instagram, I am in the process of opening a retail storefront and trade showroom in Old Town Pasadena, where I will bring all of my latest market finds to the public, so now all those fabulous pieces I post on social media will be obtainable! You may have noticed that I shared my drawing of the store’s exterior this past weekend, and the momentum will continue to build until later in the year when the store opens. While it’s difficult for me to find large chunks of time to write lengthy blog posts as regularly as I have in the past, I have continued to share whatever I come across that inspires me to Instagram as I am able to get my point across in a few short words and without the added stress of having to worry about run-on sentences, grammar, or improper spelling, so please be sure to follow me there! Of course I will continue to write here on the blog, but for more instantaneous tidbits of sources and inspiration, follow me on my other social media channels.
