Before & After: They Wanted Something "Weird and Quirky," So They Fixed Up a "Telescoping" Bungalow
Renovated in stages over the course of a decade, a home in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood proves the power of thoughtful design using humble materials.
Renovated in stages over the course of a decade, a home in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood proves the power of thoughtful design using humble materials.
A ramshackle, bank-owned bungalow on a lot crowded with weeds and broken glass isn’t everyone’s idea of a dream project. But designers Kate Lydon and Anton Willis know a diamond in the rough when they see one.
Fresh from earning their master’s degrees in architecture at U.C. Berkeley, the couple had been renting in the area and searching for a "weird and quirky" home to transform for themselves when they discovered the 1,150-square-foot, 1916 cottage in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood.
Before: Exterior
Before: The 1916 bungalow had undergone two separate rear additions when the couple purchased it. "The house was long and skinny—12 feet wide for much of it—and quite cramped," explains Kate.
Kate Lydon
"It had been extended like a telescope over the years, with additions of decreasing quality tacked on and a shotgun corridor that emphasized the length and the 12-foot-wide footprint," Anton remembers.
After: Exterior
The house, painted in Poppyseed by Behr, now features a second-floor loft for the couple’s sons and a newly vaulted living room at the front. The board-formed concrete foundation was an early change.
Bénédicte Lassalle
"Everything had been stripped out of it—it was so decrepit," Kate adds. "But it had an interesting shape, and we thought, ‘We can do something with this.’"
Architect Laura Boutelle designed an addition that extends into the unused driveway to accommodate the stair to the new second floor.
Bénédicte Lassalle
See the full story on Dwell.com: Before & After: They Wanted Something "Weird and Quirky," So They Fixed Up a "Telescoping" Bungalow
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