The “design for how you live” ethos at CWA involves embracing the things that give our clients joy, and giving them the very best version of the spaces they envision. When clients have a bold vision, we delight in partnering with them to bring it to life. Our work on this existing Monte Sereno home was concerned not just with improving the performance of the home, or providing an update, but with taping into a client’s vivid imagination and bringing a fantasy to life.

The exterior work relied on Beaux Arts design principles, with cast plaster columns, pilasters, entablature and balustrades in the Tuscan order. The terraces are arranged with marble pavers and steps. And the new garden features boxwood borders with interior plantings expected to bring an explosion of color in the spring and summer.

The same unabashed love of color follows into the interior of the house, giving a space which might otherwise be described as “formal” an air of playfulness. Two new skylights have been added to the kitchen and family room, allowing sunlight to filter in through translucent laylights constructed of delicately overlapped circle and oval tracery.

Monte Sereno is a semi-rural residential community in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Lots are big and homes are spacious. Tennis courts and swimming pools abound. Many of the homes here were constructed in the 1990s and reflect the tastes of that generation. For this remodel and addition, we were encouraged to ignore the 1990’s pedigree of the house and provide a new design that would create the feeling of another place and era.    

Our intervention was concerned primarily with the spaces that are to be used for gathering and entertaining. We removed the existing kitchen, family room and game room, and replaced them with new spaces that were better proportioned and full of natural light. We added an outdoor dining pavilion with a glass roof to allow for dining under the stars. We also added an outdoor kitchen and a new pool pavilion, arranged thoughtfully around a redesigned backyard terrace and pool.

CWA provided architectural design and landscape design for this home. Kavanagh Construction provided expert craftsmanship. The project was deftly managed by Brodie Group. These photos have been beautifully composed by Blake Marvin.