She and both architects share an affinity for clean, contemporary design, and their robust discussions led to a
consensus: gutting the interior would be best for better
perspectives and views.
With the interior stripped to its raw concrete shell, they
eliminated one bedroom and one bathroom to provide a
flexible dining and office space. And a balcony off the living
room was enclosed and incorporated into the living area.
Now, surrounded by new walls that contain built-in
storage along with concealed heating and venting systems
originally housed in ceiling soffits, the apartment seems
much bigger and taller. An open-plan public core is linked
by a wide hallway/gallery to the master suite; a door from the
dining area to the master suite’s exterior balcony also allows
direct access from the suite to the entire apartment.
“I really appreciate uncluttered space with everything
in its place,” the owner says admiringly. Still, efficiency
notwithstanding, “we tried hard not to make the apartment
too coldly modern.”
Thus, while white eggshell Benjamin Moore paint on
the walls is a crisp backdrop, it contrasts with warm floors
of broad-plank engineered oak from Italy, and some of the
in-wall cabinetry is veneered with quarter-cut pale oak, laid
with tight grain running horizontally.
“We pay attention to details. We align joints even when
the materials change, and where one joint stops, the other
starts,” Tamjidi says.
As a result, for example, the deliberately narrow gaps and
reveals between painted and unpainted cabinet doors create
a subtle rhythmic grid that looks like delicate pencil lines
on paper. Interspersed between the volume shapes, here and
there, are voids and niches for displaying artwork.
Because she likes to entertain friends and family at home
and her husband has vineyards in Lake County, the architects
also provided a kitchen that functions equally well for formal
and informal wine-tasting parties.
“THEIR ROBUST
DISCUSSIONS LED
TO A CONSENSUS:
GUTTING THE INTERIOR
WOULD BE BEST FOR
BETTER PERSPECTIVES
AND VIEWS.”