Developer ~ Design ~ Build
Los Angeles 5000 sq. ft. mission style Spanish
Ground up development Hillside home authentic mission style with 16” thick walls. Timber framed with exposed beams. Extensive court yards and fountains. All custom. tiles, lighting, doors, wood work, roof tiles all made to exact standards of the period. Unique Challenges ~ Creating 3/4 of an acre flat lot on a vertical hillside.
Re-Develop ~ Design ~ Build ~
1912 Street Car Bungalow ~ Single Family Home
Extensive remodel and rehabilitation of a 1912 Street Car Bungalow ~ Unique challenges adding the front porch to match the period -maintaining the original character while bringing up the homes design ascetic as well as to todays standards and codes. The home was purchased - rehabbed and sold for large profit within 6 months.
Re-Develop ~ Design ~ Build ~
1950 Mid-Century Zen Hollywood Hills ~ Single Family Home
Extensive remodel and rehabilitation of a 1950’s Modern Zen Hollywood Hills MidCentury Hillside home ~ Unique Challenges - hillside additions - client wanted a Mid-Century Zen Tree House with as much square footage added as could be added.
Redevelop ~ Design ~ Build ~
Kailua Beach Side Single Family Home
Extensive remodel and rehabilitation of a 1950’s ~ 2000 sq. ft. Mid-Century beach house. Unique challenges maintaining the original character and single wall construction while bringing up the house to todays standards and codes. This home when completed was the featured home in Hawaii Home and Remodeling Magazine.
Developer ~ Design ~ Entitle
Los Angeles Seven Unit Town House Rental Property
Ground up development Industrial loft style live work lofts near downtown Los Angeles. Developed and entitled and sold. Unique challenges ~ Property was originally a gas station for over 80 years. Extensive clean up and environmental phase 1 phase 2 reports.
Develop ~ Design ~ Build
Los Angeles Historic 1920’s Hillside Home
Original Architect Wallace Neff
Extensive remodel and additions ~ custom high end finishes. Unique challenges maintaining historic integrity while adding additional square footage. Eight 50 foot deep caissons (5 story deep) on a vertical hillside to create the addition and a floating back yard with included swimming pool, tree's, outdoor kitchen, etc. 30 feet off the ground.
Project Management ~ Supervision
Beach Front LanIkai Single family Home Investment Property
Was brought in to oversee - extensive remodel ,re-build of 6000 sq. ft home (both interior and exterior). Custom finishes through out and ultra high end materials.
Photos By: Olivier Koning
Finding Roots
A family uncovers the rustic charm of a Kailua beach house, restoring its original character.
Issue: November 2015
It started like a typical Paige family vacation day: Vicki and Jeremy walking along Kailua Beach with their 7-year-old son, Jaxson. On that late winter day, the weather changed suddenly from sunny to cloudy and dark, then heavy rain poured down.
A hallway leads to teh master bedroom and an enclosed lanai that was added to the house in 1968. Vicki's artwork, inspired by Kailua Beach, hangs beside the hallway entrance and is displayed throughout the house.
They ran for cover and found shelter beneath the widespread roots of a banyan tree along a public beach access on Kalaheo Avenue. Wiping the rain from their faces while waiting for the storm to pass, they fantasized about what it would be like to live in the house that shared land with this great tree.
The storm passed and their vacation ended. Back home in Los Angeles, a series of devastating events struck the Paige family, including a car accident that left Vicki with possible paralysis in her left leg.
Vicki spends most of her time at home either in the kitchen or on the roof deck, where she enjoys ocean views.
Despite an uncertain future, Jeremy and Vicki knew it was time to live the fantasy they shared beneath the banyan tree.
“I found out this house was for sale, which was sort of amazing as a sign that we should be living our dream, and we jumped in with both feet,” Jeremy says.
They made an offer on the house and Vicki underwent surgery with hopes of regaining use of her leg. Both were successful. But, before the Paiges could move in, they had to renovate the house.
Vicki and Jeremy wanted to restore the three-bedroom, three-bath house, built in 1952, to honor the design of its architect, John McAuliffe, who also designed the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic church nearby, on Makawao Street.
“The house is a classic beach house that needed some tender love and care, and we wanted to bring it back to its full potential,” Jeremy says. “We went room by room and completely overhauled them.”
The ceiling, covered in soot from the fireplace and dust from years of neglect, was cleaned, sanded and treated with teak oil to reveal beautiful mahogany planks. Planks damaged by termites were replaced with new mahogany purchased from Hardware Hawaii.
The dining area and kitchen are connected to the living room in an open floor plan. The kitchen was remodeled with countertops from Selective Stone and cabinets from Golden Cabinets.
“It’s the most beautiful mahogany wood,” Vicki says.
The floors were broken mustard-color tile, which the Paiges replaced with bamboo flooring. They removed the tinted film covering every window, including the two skylights, to allow natural light to stream in to what had been a dark interior. They added French doors to the front entrance for a more inviting welcome to their home, and painted the interior’s dark wood paneling white.
The enclosed lanai is Vicki's favorite room in the house for its three walls of windows: two to the yard and one connecting to the living room.
“That made a huge difference in the living room,” Jeremy says. “We were able to brighten the whole place up.” An enclosed lanai was added to the house in 1968. The family loves this room for its two walls of windows to the outside, and another wall with sliding windows connecting to the living room. The fourth wall holds the only television in the house.
On the makai side of the house, the master bedroom offers peaceful views of fruit trees in the backyard. One of Vicki's Kailua Beach-inspired works of art hangs on the wall.
“It feels like a house of glass,” Vicki says. “I feel like I’m outside when I’m inside, but it’s bright, clean and beautiful.”
With renovations complete, the family is settled into their Kailua home and they take pride in caring for the banyan tree that can be credited for helping them to discover the house.
Beach house decor is displayed in every room of the house, including its three remodeled baths.
“I love living in the house,” Jeremy says. “Each day I grow to appreciate the tree more and more. I feel like it’s our job, while we’re here as owners of the house, to take care of the tree. It’s our mission in life. The tree will be here long after we’re all not here. We just want to be its caretaker.”
