Kenyon - Further Out Group

Kenyon Addition, Remodel & ADU

Mid-Century Modern inspired home in Mar Vista, CA.
The project consisted of:

Complete house remodel to the existing 1,585 SF house (3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, dining, and living room area)
Addition of 695 SF (including master bedroom)
New detached ADU of 432 SF (including 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom)

Location: Mar Vista / Los Angeles
Finish Square Footage: House 2,280 SF; ADU 432 SF

Exterior View to the Back of the House and Side of the ADU

History of the Project

The client, an investor in the area, reached out to us in summer 2019 to start the design process for her latest development.

We were excited to work on the Westside and bring her vision to turn the outdated home into something mid-century modern design.

We rearranged the interior so the living areas were in the back of the house. She wanted to take advantage of the backyard and provide an indoor-outdoor living and open-concept design.

The shared spaces take advantage of the backyard – blurring inside & outside to take advantage of the beautiful weather in SoCal.

We achieved this with large sliding doors to the back, high vaulted ceilings, skylights, and plenty of windows throughout the house.

We demolished the garage and built an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit). The ADU is a one-bedroom and one-bathroom and can be used for a growing family member or an office space/play area.

Challenges

One of the challenges we had during the design process was to move all the bedrooms to the front of the house and the public spaces (living room, kitchen, and dining room) to the back of the house so it opens up to the backyard.

The ideal client was a young family who’d use the ADU as a home office or a play room, hence the connection from the front house to the ADU.

Another challenge we had was during construction. Our client did not have a property survey. So when the city inspector required it during construction, we found out the garage property lines were incorrect!

The property line was closer than we thought. This property fence was on the neighbor’s property line. So we had to go back to plan check to get a supplemental permit to correct it.

It was during COVID, so you can imagine how nerve-wracking and slow the process was. Construction was stopped during that time, and everyone was anxious, especially the investor who had to pay the hard money loan for it.

Lesson learned: get a property survey if you’re thinking of adding on to your house.