Connecting With Swedish Roots

This winter, architect Jon Larson took a long-awaited trip to Sweden. While visiting relatives in Stockholm, he took a side trip further north to Sundborn, in the Dalarna countryside, where he visited the home of the late 1800’s Swedish artists Carl and Karin Larsson (no relation, though Jon’s grandfather’s name was also Carl Larsson!)

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View of the front entry, which is westerly-facing to receive afternoon light during the darker months of winter.  Light (and darkness) has a different meaning at 60 degrees latitude. For comparison, the Bay area is at 37.8 degrees….
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Guide at the entry wearing an artist’s smock designed by Karin Larsson

 

The Larsson home has long been an inspiration for many  Jarvis Architects projects, with its bold interior and exterior colors and homey personalized atmosphere combining Swedish classic and warmer folk styles. We have come to know the home through photos and illustrated books, such as Carl Larsson’s At Home, which includes watercolor paintings of the home. Jon was drawn to the ways that Carl Larsson added personalized elements to the structure of the home itself, by painting portraits of family members right on the walls and doors.

 

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Carl Larsson’s wall portrait of four of his children painted on the side wall of the front entry porch.

 

In person, Jon found the rooms to be physically smaller, and thus more intimate, than they had seemed in pictures. But then again, experiencing the flow of one room into another–including the light, the sound of a gushing river just outside the window, and views of surrounding trees–they seemed larger and more expansive. Though now considered quintessentially Swedish, in its time the decor of the Larsson home was considered ‘scandalous’ and ‘vulgar’ for its use of bold colors and the display of painted everyday scenes on the walls. Jon was surprised to find that there were homes with similar character and detailing to the Carl Larsson home (although not quite as colorful) all over the surrounding countryside: homes and buildings from as far back as the 1500’s, many with original or relatively untouched wood exteriors. The Larssons’ mixture of traditional and folk elements, combined with bolder personal touches, into the design of their home is what made their vision truly timeless.  For example, 17th century full-height wooden cabinetry and panelling were imported from Germany and used in Carl’s studio.

 

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A nearby home with entry porch reminiscent of Carl Larsson’s home

 

Mid Century Home Gets Grand Pool Hall Makeover

In true homage to our client’s love of pool, we worked with designer Carlene Anderson to create a central communal space around her stately pool table. Our architects lifted the ceiling and opened up the kitchen, creating a more expansive, integrated feel to the home. An inset bar adds dimension, and a dining counter with barstool chairs completes the scene.  The stove backsplash is what really ties it all together: the inlay pattern of the pool table is repeated here in mosaic. Warm wooden surfaces and opulent earth tones create a harmonious space conducive to sizable gatherings and merriment.

 

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Temporary Staircase: A Contractor’s Innovative Solution

Anyone who’s remodeled their own home knows that the success of a project isn’t determined simply by the skilled execution of a static design, but rather the flexible and synergistic relationship between client, architect and contractor.  Each project is like a living thing, constantly morphing and developing in response to a client’s evolving ideas and desires, an architect’s fluid but steady vision, and a contractor’s innovative manifestation.  A beautiful thing happens when each party can proactively anticipate and conscientiously respond to the needs of each client, as well as the shifting parameters and scope of a project.

Case in point: a temporary exterior stairway built by contractor Whitney Collins for a project in Oakland, in which the client’s family has continued to live in a portion of the house during construction. The project includes a cantilevered buildout over the existing family room, as shown in the image below.  Since much of the house is stripped down to its framing, Whitney devised a temporary exterior stairway for use by the contractors, so that the family could continue to use the interior stair to access the sleeping area of the second floor that is untouched by the remodel.  Whitney sealed off a section of the main floor and upper floor so the client could remain in the house, use the kitchen downstairs, and sleep and bathe upstairs.  This clever and empathic fixture grants more ease and normalcy for the client during the construction process.

 

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Drone’s Eye View

Will drones become the futuristic couriers of Amazon prime packages they’re being hyped up to be?  Jury’s still out, but one client of ours has discovered an ingenious way to harness the power of the drone’s skyward domain to survey his remodel-in-progress. The owners of this Albany home used their drone to record the progress of construction from a bird’s eye view.  The aerial viewpoint affords a delightfully new perspective on the process, revealing some design elements invisible from the street, such as an upper deck and stairway.  The dynamism of the recording itself–at times the drone goes into a light tailspin, at others it zooms in and out, hovering low above the contractors who traverse the roof with grace–adds a dramatic flourish.  The builder joked that he now has to keep the job site looking tidy from the air, not just from street level!

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Modernism’s Second Wave: Orinda Ranch house

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A greater great room: the roof of this Mid-Century home was raised, creating a loftier, more expansive interior.

 

The ebb, flow, and restructuring of ideologies in any given generation makes itself apparent in the architectural innovations of that generation. Perpetual shifts in lifestyle and aesthetics—in addition to inevitable wear and tear—dictate that the “useful life” of a house is roughly 30-40 years. This means that every generation or so, a house will likely require renovations. These renovations require more than just surface refurbishment and appliance upgrades, says principal architect Robin Pennell. The home must be brought into conversation with contemporary living, without compromising the integrity of its original design.

Victorian homes had their second heyday of remodels in the 1980’s; Craftsmans had theirs in the 1990’s, and traditional and early ranch style homes took up the limelight in the early 2000’s. Just as the structural elements and facades of these homes inevitably degrade, so too do the visions of contemporaneity that are encoded within them. Divisions of space start to feel antiquated, like bygone utopias. Mid-Century moderns are currently undergoing remodels, and experiencing a new appreciation. The historical precedent of adaptation provides architects and designers with the opportunity to reposition these homes within the context of contemporary living.

 

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View from the great room into the kitchen

 

To bring this 1960’s rancher into dialogue with contemporary lifestyle, Jarvis Architects worked together with interior designer Siobhan Brennan to expand the great room and lift the ceiling, creating a more flowing, warm, and inviting home.  With the critical distance of hindsight on their side, it became clear that the so-called open plan of this Modernist home contained vestiges of compartmentalism left over from the Victorian era. During that time, each room contained an individual heating system, and was sealed off by a doorway. One simply opened the door to the room one wanted to be heated. With the advent of forced air heating and more casual living, increasingly open plans became available. Modernism marks a transitional point between the two heating systems, and therefore retains aspects of both architectural morphologies. The open, expansive feel of this remodeled home takes its cue from the original Modernist design, and follows its ideal of overarching simplicity to its logical, contemporary conclusion.

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The Art of the Built-In Closet

The challenge in remodeling this Berkeley home was to add more closet space without compromising the spacious feeling of its rooms. As a solution, architect Jon Larson designed built-in closets, which allowed the expansive ceilings to remain intact. The trimwork of the closets was designed to blend in with the original house as if it had always been there. In this way, the design strikes a harmonious balance between practicality and consistency.

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Built-in cabinet with skylight

 

The entry hall was originally filled with doorways, and thus too crowded for closet space. During the remodel, one of the doorway openings was narrowed slightly, allowing for closet space in the adjacent living room. Jon’s design incorporated cabinetmaker Bill’s idea for a top skylight, which provides natural light during the daytime, sparing the use of an electric light.

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With matching trimwork, the new closet integrates seamlessly with the look of the original room.

 

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Detail of closet skylight

 

The built-in closet in the master bedroom adds the storage of a double closet while preserving the open, expansive feel of the room. Added details are a fragrant cedar lining in the closet and an attic ‘mystery’ window with a switched light behind it. The window gives the impression that the outdoors is right behind it, adding whimsical nuance to the room.

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Master bedroom closet and attic window

In the Swing of Things

 

The city of Oakland is just that: the land of Oaks.  And when you’ve got one in your backyard as mighty and beautiful as the Fox family did, there’s only one thing to do:  get a swing!

 

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Lucy and Kaya Fox enjoying their new backyard swing

 

The backyard boasts many spatially efficient details, of which the swing is emblematic.  Architect and landscape designer Cindy Chan helped transform the yard from cramped enclosure to tranquil sanctuary.

The original yard felt narrow and was sloping, with minimum patio space.   Jarvis proposed leveling the grade in part of the yard, in order to produce a larger and more inviting patio.  An offshoot patio hosts the swing, which has become the favorite of the kids and the kids-at-heart.  The new landscaping was installed by Dawn Landscaping, Inc.

 

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The new design utilizes the top of the garage to create a second sunny patio. A simple metal stair, selected for its subtlety and visual permeability, connects the two patios.  A vine trellis was installed inside the original fence, providing a similarly spacious and open quality to the patio’s perimeter.

 

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A new wood burning pizza oven, installed with the new patio is the heart and focal point of the patio.

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Before: cramped quarters

Meet Jarvis Newcomer Daniel Camargo!

 

The newest addition to the Jarvis team, Daniel Camargo hails from Curitiba, a Southern Brazillian city acclaimed for its sustainable urban development initiatives.  His interest in architecture springs from his natural aptitude for the arts and sciences, in addition to his immersion in the field from an early age.

Daniel earned a degree in industrial Design at the Technologic University of Parana in 2000, and went on to work for a Canadian architectural historical documentation firm.  He developed an interest in the nuts and bolts of American architecture, eventually relocating to the Bay Area in 2005 to work with various architects.  Coincidentally, this included training with one of Jarvis’ first associated architects.

In his spare time, Daniel enjoys cooking, drawing, sculpting, spending time with his three year old son, and playing music with his Brazilian Jazz ensemble.

French Countryside, Bay Area Style

Recently featured on the Children’s Support League’s Heart of the Home Tour, this Oakland home was landscaped with a nod to the French countryside, and designed to serve the needs of a growing Bay Area family.  Jarvis Architect and landscape designer Cindy Chan used deer-resistant, drought-tolerant, and edible plants to create an efficient and ecologically-minded space where parents and children alike can enjoy the splendor of the outdoors.

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The back yard, designed with the family’s three young kids in mind, is host to a large lawn and play structure, and edged by a vegetable garden of edible greenery.  An outdoor kitchen and gas operated fire pit provide leisure-seekers with the full accoutrement to entertain, whilst an outdoor spa provides moments of pause and relaxation.  Purple and pink flowers pepper the lawn’s periphery.

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Above: outdoor spa and lawn

 

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Above: fire pit, spa, and lounge area in the backyard

 

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An edible garden is nestled next to the play structure, encouraging the kids to be mindful of where their food comes from

 

  The front yard presents a contemplative counterpoint the boisterous play and activity of the backyard.   A custom metal railing fence encapsulates lush greenery, and rustic gravel pathways draw the yard dweller in to focal points such as a quatrefoil fountain and a sitting area surrounded by boxwood hedge and trellis.  Mature Oak and Pine trees shelter the elevated patio from the street, both visually and acoustically.  Climbing roses add a dash of pink, elevating the romantic tone of the yard.

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Light on a Stair

The repurpose and Upcycle trends in architecture and design have led to a renewed curiosity in the past histories and potential future uses of the objects we come in contact with on a daily basis.  That a table, door, or accessory we’ve incorporated into our everyday lives could’ve once held a completely different form or use is an inspiring notion.  A recent Jarvis remodel project upholds this spirit by re-imagining the ways to light a stairway.

Light on a Stair

This Berkeley home, recently remodeled under the direction of Jarvis Architects Robin Pennell and Cindy Chan, features a skylight with a unique back story.

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Above: detail of art glass panelling on skylight

 

The skylight began as a standard french door unit, one of a pair of doors fitted with art glass panels.  The door was then trimmed down to window frame size and installed in a new ceiling opening above the stairway.  Since the house has two stories, the architects designed a skylight well, situated in the attic above the new skylight, to bring bright, ambient light to an otherwise shadowy stairway.  Outfitted with gloss white sheetrock, the skylight fixture creatively and resourcefully reproduces the look of reflected daylight.  The new door-turned-skylight acts a portal for spaciousness and light in the home.

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