Before & After: An Architect’s Ever-Changing Bungalow Evolves Over Seven Years
David Marlatt of DNM Architecture field tests materials and designs as he remodels his 1906 home in Sausalito.
David Marlatt of DNM Architecture field tests materials and designs as he remodels his 1906 home in Sausalito.
"My wife and I had no interest in buying something that was ready to move in—we were actively looking for a project," says architect David Marlatt. That’s exactly what the couple found in this Sausalito bungalow. The home was built in 1906, and subsequently moved to its current corner lot during World War II, when the Army appropriated its original neighborhood for the Marinship Shipyards. After that, the house was subjected to years of ad-hoc remodels and renters.
When David and his wife, the ceramics artist Sarah Burgevin, first toured the home, it was small—about 875 square feet—and had a series of small rooms and shed-like additions, with dropped ceilings, one-eighth-inch plywood covering the walls, and institutional carpet. Call it an architect’s intuition, but David, who founded DNM Architecture, wondered if there was more happening beneath those cheap finishes.
"I got up on a ladder and looked up in the attic, and that’s where I discovered all of this untouched redwood framing—and there were two additional feet above the ceiling that had been dropped in," says David. After purchasing the home in 2014, David embarked on a multiphase remodel to not only improve the home, but also field test materials and treatments before bringing them to clients. Plus, the process of experimenting is just fun for the architect.
Before: Front Exterior
Before: David Marlatt and wife Sarah Burgevin bought this Sausalito bungalow in 2014 with the intention of fixing it up with a series of interventions.
Courtesy of DNM Architecture
After: Front Exterior
The Sausalito bungalow has a crisp new look, and much more living space, after the couple remodeled it between 2014 and 2019. They replaced the roof with standing-seam metal, seismically updated the foundations, and added a 600-gallon pillow tank that collects water from the roof for irrigation purposes. Improved insulation and a 2.2-kilowatt photovoltaic array vastly improves the home’s performance to near net-zero levels.
Photo: James Leasure
Phase One
The first phase was a quick one, as the walls, ceiling, and floors needed to be addressed before the couple could move in. "There were 30 or so days of really intense work," says David. This included ripping up the dingy carpet, divesting the dropped ceiling, and removing the cheap paneling on the walls.
Before: Entry Room
Before: The living room at the front of the house had eight-foot dropped ceilings, cheap wall paneling, and institutional carpet.
Courtesy of DNM Architecture
See the full story on Dwell.com: Before & After: An Architect’s Ever-Changing Bungalow Evolves Over Seven Years
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