Since 1912, the shingled Craftsman residence with the graceful Dutch gable has risen above the roads bounding its nearly two-thirds of an acre site in Mill Valley, California. Over time, the footprint of the once-summer home was expanded to 6,250 square feet, but many details remained from its original build. Among those details were locally sourced white oak wall paneling throughout the living areas; a fireplace with a hand-carved wood overmantel; decorative interior Corinthian columns; and leaded stained glass windows. The windows were commissioned by the original owner, a World War I veteran, and depict the military divisions that fought in the Meuse-Argonne offensive in France.
After about five years of living in the home, which is listed in the Historical Resource Inventory of Mill Valley, its current owner wanted to update the interior and layout to accommodate their family’s lifestyle. However, they were sensitive to retaining the craftsmanship and character of materials integrated in the structure’s literal and figurative framework, says Heidi Richardson, principal at Richardson Pribuss Architects. “We wanted to keep the integrity and history of the original building, provide easier indoor–outdoor access. And the second floor had no heat, so we added heat.”
Layout Refinement
Over time, the family had adapted several rooms for their activities. The formal dining room became a meditation space, and the wood-paneled living room became a media space with a dropdown screen. As a result, the renovation left many rooms as is but updated lighting and finishes.
Nonetheless, the few layout changes made by the architects had an outsized impact, particularly in the rear northeast addition. “That whole … back area was a mess,” Heidi says. On the main level, an interior passageway spanning the addition’s width was tight, crammed with storage and a small powder room. By widening the footprint and borrowing underutilized space from an adjacent mechanical area, the firm created a more spacious powder room, an inviting pass-through between the north and south gardens, and a small work area with outdoor views.
In the addition’s second level, the existing primary bath was experiencing water infiltration and had to be rebuilt. That gave the architects the opportunity to rework its layout entirely. A dated tiled bathtub was replaced with a standalone tub, and its adjacent window, which faced a main street, was filled in with vertical wall tile. Laundry facilities were relocated to a guest bathroom. On the north wall, windows were added above the double vanity to open up direct views of Marin County’s Mount Tamalpais, which “is a big deal here,” Heidi notes. Custom vanity mirrors slide horizontally out of the line of sight to reveal the windows and breathtaking views beyond.
Against the south wall, a new sauna and tiled shower open out to a private deck and garden through a glass door and curtain wall.
Refined Atmospheres
Considering the verdant setting, textural gardens, and soaring oaks surrounding the house, which was once called “Two Oaks” for the trees flanking its entry, the design team chose deep blue tones for the kitchen and soft greens, natural wood, and plaster for the reimagined primary bath.
To acknowledge the house’s original construction during the Industrial Revolution, the architects added industrial elements in the kitchen. Dramatic brass wall sconces highlight the white quartzite working surfaces and backsplash, and an asymmetrical, burnished brass hood stands out from surrounding white oak cabinetry. The builder, Joe McGuire, helped the architects find someone who could achieve the desired look of the hood patina, Heidi says.
Richardson Pribuss added a breakfast nook tucked into the kitchen to support family gatherings and designed a custom white oak banquette and table to complement the owner’s existing chairs and a new limestone tile floor.
Natural Tendencies
With their high regard for their home’s history, the client eschewed plastic products and materials due to their homogeneity and unchanging appearance over time. Instead, they opted for “natural materials that showed variation in color, texture, and finish, and left all the plumbing and hardware unlacquered so they would age and patina with the house,” says Richardson Pribuss designer Danielle Velasco. “All of these choices help marry the new parts of the house with the historical parts.”
Copper and brass appear throughout the house in fixtures, lighting, hardware, and even a joint detail between the tile and drywall of a secondary bath. These pops of warmth help strike “a balance between more modern elements and more vintage pieces,” Heidi says. Concrete sinks and bathtubs in the bathrooms add another tactile material to the natural palette.
Envelope Improvements
Outside, each wood shingle cladding the home’s extensive walls and deck rails was inspected for its integrity; Heidi estimates about 20% were replaced. The project also replaced several inoperable upper-level windows with energy-efficient, metal-clad wood windows that meet modern egress requirements for life safety.
Additionally, an energy-efficient gas boiler and tankless water heater improve the performance of the house. Overall, the project’s light touch elevated the home’s comfortable, domestic feel, Heidi says. “It feels authentic. That’s what I like best about the project.”
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Historic Dutch Gable
Mill Valley, California
Architect: Heidi Richardson and Andrew Pribuss, design principals and project architects; Danielle E. Velasco, designer, Richardson Pribuss Architects, Mill Valley, California
Structural Engineer: Kelly Turbin, Turbin Structural Engineering, Mill Valley
Contractor: Joe McGuire, McGuire and Sons, San Rafael, California
Landscape Architect: Hsiaochien Chuang, Studio H2, San Francisco
Project Size: 6,250 square feet
Site Size: 0.63 acre
Construction Cost: Withheld
Photography: Eric Rorer, Suzanna Scott
Key Products
Appliances: Gaggenau (refrigerator/freezer, dishwasher)
Countertop: IRG (kitchen)
Door hardware: Rocky Mountain Hardware
Exterior Siding: Wood shingle
Faucets: Kallista (kitchen), Waterworks (primary and secondary baths, powder room)
Flooring: Teak (primary suite and secondary bathroom), Douglas fir (secondary bedrooms), oak (existing, main house); Haussman Natural Stone (kitchen and bathroom)
Furniture: L.Gandsley (kitchen table); eSSa Studios (kitchen banquette); Misia (seatback fabric); Moore & Giles (seat leather)
Hood: B Metal Fabrication
Lighting: Apparatus (living room; primary bath); Roman & Williams Guild (breakfast table pendant); Workstead (kitchen sconces); Allied Maker (stair); Bianco Light + Space
Millwork: Whitewashed white oak (kitchen)
Paint: C2 Paint (kitchen)
Rug: Loloi Rugs (primary bedroom); Lulu and Georgia (kitchen runner)
Sink: Blanco (kitchen); Sonoma Cast Stone (primary and secondary baths); IRG (powder room)
Tile: Clé Tile (primary and secondary baths)
Toilet: TOTO
Tub: Victoria + Albert (primary bath); Waterworks (secondary baths)
Wallpaper: Gregorius Pineo (powder room outside wall, upstairs landing/hall)
Windows: Marvin; Jada Windows (primary bath window wall)
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