apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Wow - What an amazing and effective facelift!

Very nice. And kudos to the architect and owner for not turning it into yet another faux "cottage." If it were on the East Coast, the house would now have a turret, two bays, and a couple of cupolas.

djs,

Ouch, for the easterners, though funny indeed.

djs, sad but true. You forgot the vinyl siding and shutters.

Amazing transformation...I wouldn't have thought there was any hope a nice place based on the before picture.

I think this came out fantastic. I wish there were more pictures available. The article described such a beautiful place that deserved such a fine revision of that 'motel' but didn't show off the house and landscaping.

Hey- I am from the south east and I happen to love my Bays and Turrets!
But dig this too.

Impressive job, but I wish that the after photo was from the same angle as the before, so we could have a better basis for comparison. I live along this coast, so I'm always happy to see it when a buyer doesn't tear down a simple house and build a trophy home. It happens out here, too, easterners! Far, far too often. A few years ago a Silicon Valley mega-rich jerk wanted to build a 14k square foot chateau (a copy of a chateau he'd seen in the Loire Valley .. oh so appropriate for the California coast!)) on pristine land adjacent to a preserve. He was shot down, thankfully.

... and one more thing to point out. That tent cabin would be habitable only in the summer and early fall. It gets very cold and stormy along this coast in the winter and spring. And in the summer, too, you have thick, cold fog to contend with.

that is undescribable... it is so amazing and the original structure has a great shape once it was fixed

Forestdweller -- I can't help hoping you meant it literally when you said the wannabe chateau-owner was shot down.

Amazing! But, then, when you have the money it should be!

Rosenatti, I hear 'ya. Not literally shot, but he did need to watch his back for a bit there. I think he miscalculated the level of anger he would stir up. That stretch of coastline has some fierce protectors... and a good thing, too.

Katie, are you reading?? Can we please see more??
Loved it.

Another one for a better angle. The original picture shows a bit of the great surroundings (no, not the ugly car and cement driveway, sillies), and it would be a wonder seeing this in that green-yellow field of flowers.

to some dude: Hate to break it to you, but I think we're looking at it from what WAS the field of flowers.