When homeowners take on a century-old house, the path from derelict to dream home rarely runs straight. One Los Angeles family discovered this firsthand after purchasing a 1908 Craftsman bungalow that had been used as a student rooming house for years. The crumbling roof, sagging floors, and inadequate foundation would demand a space optimization strategy that unfolded across two distinct renovation phases spanning fifteen years. The result is a home that preserves its historic character while embracing modern indoor-outdoor living.
Assessing the Structural Condition of an Aging Bungalow
Annette and Gustavo Gutierrez already lived in the Hollywood Grove section of Los Angeles when the dilapidated house across the street caught their attention. The 2,300-square-foot Craftsman had been serving as a rooming house for college students, and its condition was deteriorating rapidly. A crumbling roof, severely sagging midriff, and an old wood gate that literally fell onto the pavement signaled that the structure was in serious trouble. Yet the property offered something their current home lacked: a larger second story with potential for a traditional bedrooms-upstairs layout, plus a secluded back lot for private outdoor space.
After winning a bidding war and selling their previous home in a single day, the family moved 150 yards across the street and began discovering the true extent of the problems. The original house had been built with meager redwood mudsills atop quicksand-like soil. Old building permits revealed that the brick-and-concrete foundation was never designed to hold two full stories. Decades earlier, when a furnace had been installed on the main level, several key joists had been severed, further compromising the structure. The back of the house consisted of old porches that had been enclosed over time, creating a dark and chopped-up interior that felt cramped and disconnected.
For comparison, many older homes face similar challenges when adapting to modern family needs. The 5 Bedroom Two Story New American Bungalow With Two Story Family Room Floor Plan demonstrates how contemporary bungalow designs incorporate open layouts from the start, avoiding the structural compromises that come with retrofitting enclosed porches and ad hoc additions.
Phase One: Stabilizing the Foundation and Structural Framework
The first contractor hired for the renovation, Jeff Board, was initially pessimistic about the project. He described the house as hopeless, citing the unreinforced masonry foundation and the lack of adequate support for the second story. However, after having worked on the family’s previous home, he knew the owners had a talent for transforming challenging properties. He agreed to give structural straightening his best effort.
Board’s team used a series of bottle jacks to raise the original portion of the house by roughly four inches. This delicate operation allowed them to access and replace the crumbling foundation with new poured concrete fortified with steel rebar and deep footings, meeting California’s stringent earthquake code. They added a new set of concrete piers for support and repaired the severed joists. The danger in a house this old, Board noted, is unreinforced masonry, which can fail catastrophically during seismic activity. The new foundation eliminated that risk.
While the shoring up was successful, the aftermath created new problems. As the house straightened after decades of settling, the interior plaster walls buckled and cracked throughout the living spaces. The foundation could now survive a major tremor, but the inside of the home was badly damaged. This setback forced the owners to pause and reassess their plans. The family run home builders approach often involves navigating unexpected complications that arise during structural work, requiring patience and creative problem-solving to stay on track.
Phase Two: Opening the Floor Plan for Indoor-Outdoor Living
The first phase had consumed the budget and the family’s energy. Annette spent a day sobbing in an upstairs bathroom halfway through the four-month structural redo. They had straight walls, reasonably level floors, a new roof, and ductless HVAC installed upstairs and down. The break that followed lasted eight years, during which Annette focused on her garden and the family’s circumstances evolved. Gustavo’s two older children from a previous relationship were now out on their own, and daughter Lola was heading to college.
When the family was ready for phase two, the priorities had shifted. Instead of reconfiguring the entire ground floor, Annette decided to focus on the chopped-up back portion of the house. The kitchen became the centerpiece of the remodel. She planned to combine it with the adjacent breakfast nook and laundry room, then had an even more ambitious idea: create a true great room by literally opening the kitchen to the backyard. The existing spaces had been created by enclosing old porches, which meant more foundation work was required. Contractor James Orvis and his team dug three feet down to reach bedrock to stabilize the expansion.
The defining moment came when they swapped out the kitchen’s rear wall for a ten-foot stretch of bifold glass-panel doors. These doors open to an exterior living room with a pergola-style slatted wood roof and low fencing walls. A sleek built-in sofa anchors the step-down patio. The house not only brightened dramatically, it could finally breathe. This approach echoes the principles seen in the Rear Window House Minimalist Architecture 1944 Bungalow Remodel, where opening the rear facade transformed a dark bungalow into a light-filled contemporary home.
Key Design Decisions: Materials, Finishes, and Details
Throughout the renovation, the owners made thoughtful choices about materials and finishes that balanced preservation with modern taste. The original wood floors on the upper story were saved and refinished, while the downstairs received new strip oak flooring. Existing doors, many of which had been pierced with multiple dead bolts from the student rooming house days, were repaired by cutting plugs from spare doors and blending them in with wood patch and extensive sanding.
The kitchen exemplifies the project’s design philosophy. White cabinetry and trim provide a clean backdrop for two-tone wall paint in gray-blue and khaki green. The custom checkerboard floor was created by cutting down blue and black linoleum tiles. A peninsula serves as both a prep area and a buffet counter, leaving a clear thoroughfare for the dogs and grandchildren who frequently pass through. The following table summarizes the major finishes and sources used in the project:
| Area | Finish or Feature | Source or Brand |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen countertops | Engineered quartz | Caesarstone |
| Kitchen floor | Custom checkerboard linoleum | DIY by owners |
| Range and hood | Professional-grade gas range | Sub-Zero and Wolf / Vent-A-Hood |
| Living room paint | Yellow-orange tone | Martha Stewart Squash Blossom |
| Master bedroom walls | Warm copper tone | Benjamin Moore Copper Clay |
| Kitchen upper walls | Gray-blue | Martha Stewart Artemisia |
| Kitchen lower walls | Khaki green | Martha Stewart Luminaria |
| Patio sofa cushion | Outdoor performance fabric | Sunbrella |
| Master bath sink | Salvaged jade-green pedestal | Antique find |
Transforming the Backyard into an Outdoor Living Room
The 4,800-square-foot lot became an extension of the interior living space. Annette, co-owner of Potted garden shop in nearby Los Feliz, brought her expertise to the landscape design from the very beginning. She started planting the backyard immediately after purchasing the property, even while the interior remained in disarray.
The curved concrete patio off the new kitchen features a lounge area, a dining table, and a potting bench surrounded by masses of container plantings. A fire pit and a swimming pool with a tiled outdoor shower complete the amenities. Bricks salvaged from the old foundation were repurposed for garden pathways and the fire pit patio, giving the demolition waste a second life as character-rich hardscaping. Wide bands of concrete with Mexican beach stones between them form a handsome patio surface.
- The bifold glass doors create a seamless transition between kitchen and patio
- A pergola-style slatted wood roof provides partial shade over the outdoor seating area
- Low fencing walls define the outdoor room without blocking views
- The outdoor shower serves double duty as a poolside mural with colorful tilework
- Container gardens around the patio echo the home’s Craftsman connection to nature
The kitchen expansion also brought benefits to the upper floor. When the laundry room bumpout allowed for a wraparound second-story deck off the master bedroom, the owners gained a spot to enjoy their view of the Hollywood sign. Sunlight now flows into the adjacent master bedroom and bath, spaces that had previously felt dark and enclosed. The master bath gained four feet of space and features the salvaged jade-green pedestal sink that served as the design inspiration for the remodel.
Lessons from a 15-Year Bungalow Transformation
The Gutierrez renovation teaches several valuable lessons for anyone considering a similar project. First, structural work on a 100-year-old house often reveals problems that cannot be fully anticipated during the planning phase. The original foundation, the severed joists, and the instability caused by enclosed porches were all discoveries made during demolition rather than during initial inspections. Budgeting for surprises is essential.
Second, a multi-phase approach can make a large renovation financially and emotionally sustainable. The eight-year pause between phases allowed the family to recover their energy, reassess their needs, and approach phase two with a clearer vision. What started as a plan to reconfigure the entire ground floor evolved into a more focused kitchen-centric renovation that achieved the same open living goal with less disruption.
Third, salvaging and repurposing materials saves money and preserves character. The original upstairs floors, most of the interior doors, and even the foundation bricks were all incorporated into the finished home. The Designing Small Family Home Stumpf Residence Lessons offer additional insight into how thoughtful material choices and spatial planning can maximize the potential of an older home without requiring a complete teardown.
As Annette herself puts it, when you take on an old house, it is good not to be a perfectionist. Put a marble on any of the floors and it will still roll, a reminder of the house’s long history and the many hands that have shaped it. What matters is that the home now works for the way this family lives, with a free-flowing great room that dissolves the boundary between indoors and out.