Construction Diary: How a Bay Area Couple Rebuilt Their California Ranch Home From the Ground Up

In the San Francisco Bay Area, houses for sale are scarce, so buyers have to make quick decisions when an opportunity comes up. The only requirement that Bassam, a tech entrepreneur, and Ming, an accountant, had for their first house was a general location: somewhere in the South Bay, close to mountains and nature. 

So, when they came across a dilapidated, awkwardly renovated 1,600-square-foot midcentury ranch in the town of Saratoga, what they zeroed in on was the neat and spacious lot. The house was a compact rectangle set to one side—the rest of the lot was open, with space for a future accessory dwelling unit, where their extended families could stay when they visited from Lebanon and China. 

Once their offer was accepted, they had the breathing room to think: What can we do to improve the main house? They ended up completely reimagining the house and rebuilding much of it from scratch with the help of Bassel Samaha of Samaha+Hart Architecture, a small San Francisco firm that specializes in residential projects.

As-Is Condition

Bassam: The previous owner had repurposed the garage into an additional living area, so the amount of common space was huge. The kitchen was tiny—about the same size as the laundry room. There was one shared bath for three small bedrooms and a tiny half-bathroom that you had to cross the house to get to. It just felt like the proportions were off and there was a lot of wasted space.