Fraser
History Behind the Project
This project is near and dear to our hearts because it was the first property that we bought in 2018. It was a complete tear down of the existing duplex, so we designed and built a triplex in its place. This project launched our design practice.
Wei left her corporate architecture job to manage the design and the construction with Daniel. It also presented a great opportunity to offer our services to other people since we knew the pain points of homeowners navigating the design and permitting process.
It was something we were going through ourselves. Daniel worked as a deputy inspector at the time, so we had a lot of connections with contractors and homeowners.
It’s one of our favorite projects because we designed it, built it, and actually lived in it for a year. Now, two of the three units are rented to amazing long-term tenants and we live in one unit and rent it on Airbnb when we go on vacation.
Project Breakdown & Scope of Work
- Complete demo of existing 1,700 SF duplex (2 bedroom 1 bathroom each) due to termite and water damage
- New construction triplex of 2,250 SF (we got away with increasing parking requirements because we were building on the exact same footprint)
- Unit 1: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
- Unit 2: 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
- Unit 3: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (we live here!)
Design Elements
We wanted a light-filled space with views to the outside so we included many windows throughout the second floor (living areas) and access to the outside on both floors.
Cross-ventilation was important too, we wanted a house that felt airy, so we put windows across each other. The tall vaulted ceiling helps make the space feel taller and brighter. We hardly turned on the AC while we were living there.
We spend all of our time upstairs (living/dining/kitchen and our master bedroom is upstairs), so we get great ventilation and view looking out the windows towards our avocado tree and the El Sereno mountains beyond.
We also love spending time in the upstairs covered deck right off the kitchen. We’ve since added vertical shades in the opening, a better outdoor furniture setup and even installed an outdoor TV.
The first floor consists of our Further Out Group office space and a bedroom that we use as a gym, this bedroom has a bathroom too. We used the space under the stairs to install our washing machine and dryer.
Finally, the exterior shot of the building.
Location
Project is located in East Los Angeles, in unincorporated Los Angeles, County. Our building department is the LA County Building & Safety department.
Time Frame
- Purchased June 2018, we tried to remodel the duplex but the more we uncovered, the worst it looked
- Plan submittal to the city August 2018 and plan approval 3 months later – with lots of visits to the city (we were on a time crunch – paying mortgage for a house we didn’t live in!)
- Start construction December 2018
- Completed construction July 2019 and moved in!
Budget
We spent $300k on the construction, will do a budget breakdown in another blog post. We built this as owner-builder, managed all the sub-contractors, purchased the material ourselves, and built in 2019 – so prices for everything have gone up!
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We love to teach and educate whenever we can. Check out our Services Page if you’re interested in working with us.