Before & After: A Flooded Basement Kicked Off a Family’s Whole-Home Renovation in Montana

Sometimes a crisis becomes an opportunity. Such was the case when Abby Eskin and Zak Smith’s home flooded after pipes burst from a cold snap, forcing a renovation that turned into a whole-home makeover. The couple had moved from Los Angeles to Bozeman, Montana, with their two children, Zoe and Smith, and were living in a rental when they purchased the 1950s home. Situated near Montana State University in one of Bozeman’s only neighborhoods of midcentury residences, it attracted Abby and Zak with its floor-to-ceiling living room windows that filled the space with natural light, even on dark wintry days.

But the rest of the house didn’t get much light, especially the kitchen, and its spaces felt disconnected from one another. Zak and Abby had been contemplating a renovation, but as Zak recalls, "We could be a little bit slow moving." Then, when the basement and primary bedroom flooded, knowing these spaces would have to be remediated and essentially gutted, the couple realized this was their chance to do something more. Their daughter Zoe provided a push.

"When we were thinking about renovating, our daughter said, ‘I'd like to still live here when the house is done, before going to college,’" Zak recalls. "I hadn’t really been thinking about it that way, but Zoe was right. She wasn’t gonna get to experience the renovated house if we didn’t get things moving."

The couple realized what they didn’t want was a typical regional approach, with "these kind of austere mountain-style or ski-lodge-feeling homes," Abby recalls. "I was definitely worried that people wouldn’t get our aesthetic here." What they did want was plenty of light and openness, and to embrace color.

Before: Living Room

After: Living Room