This addition and renovation to a tiny cottage in the Oakland Hills provided a rare opportunity to build on a verdant wooded site in an otherwise urban setting. Our approach for this modest budget project was to leave the cottage exterior intact and build anew, moving the house’s center of gravity back along the edge of an arroyo, and bringing a new entry through existing oak trees.
The addition opens up wooded views into the arroyo and the dense riparian vegetation which lines this seasonal water course.
The new kitchen forms a connector between the old cottage (now two bedrooms) and the new living spaces.
Views from the new master bedroom look back over the trees toward San Francisco.
Photography by Open Homes Photography, General Contractor Southface Construction Inc., Structural Engineer Komendant Engineering.