Arcadia
​mid-century
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Midcentury at Arcadia is an extensive remodel of a home we purchased in very poor condition in lower Arcadia on 53rd Street and Thomas Road. We completely transformed this house into a fantastic contemporary home while retaining the best of the midcentury modern character of the original building. Part of the remodel were major additions to the house including a master bedroom, a master bath, a walk-in closet, a laundry room, and pantry and a carport. Since the neighborhood is very family-oriented, we wanted the house to have four bedrooms to accommodate a growing family.

As with all of our projects, playing with light and shadows was a central focus of the design. We added a new carport not only as a convenience for the new residents, but as an architectural feature that adds visual interest to the front of the house. The carport with wood beams leads to a new front patio that is covered by a metal trellis. This trellis creates a wonderful changing pattern of shadows on the front of the house throughout the day. The front patio and trellis are decked out with LED lighting, which continues the play of light well after sundown. To add a contemporary and industrial look to the house, we sandblasted the front wall of the house to bring out the natural hues of the raw concrete block. We added new exposed concrete block to the carport to visually tie it into the existing building. The original ceilings of the house were at 8 feet, but we vaulted the ceilings, creating a much more expansive space filled with daylight. A small detail that creates a big impact is a new corner window we added that gives great views of the grassy back yard and pool and at the same time gives the house a cutting-edge contemporary look.

The sustainability features of Midcentury at Arcadia include sealed concrete floors which cool the indoor temperatures in the summer significantly and are easy to maintain, recycled quartz countertops, R- 19 insulated exterior walls, R-38 insulated roof, a high-efficiency water heater, low-e double pane windows, dual flush toilets, Energy Star appliances and an Energy Star programmable thermostat. And since we enjoy finding new ways to reuse material, we reused the rafters from a rear patio to create the new trellis over the front patio.

We love this project because the difference between before and after is so stark. With a few key architectural moves, we were able to turn a dilapidated eye sore of a property into a contemporary and lively architectural jewel in the neighborhood.