|
"The home had great bones, but it stuck out like a sore thumb in its neighborhood," he says. "We knew if we could soften both the landscape and the streetscape, the contemporary architecture of the home wouldn't be so stark against the rest of the homes on that street."
To help this integration, the team painted the exterior stucco and brick in creams, whites and tans. Wood slats then replaced the foam green siding to tone down the architecture and make it appear more natural. Finally, lush tropical greenery was added to resemble a Miami home, and the foliage accents the wood and plays up the neutral colors.
Inside, the group scrapped everything except the drywall, replacing the marble floors with an exotic hardwood and installing a high-end, in-home broadcasting system to create the ultimate entertainer's residence.
Before"The design of this home is so simple and minimal that we had to really make every aspect pop, and that's why material choices were so key," Byrd says. "When you just have plain white walls and nothing else, you need to have major statements, whether that's the flooring, the siding or some other element."The home — purchased as the homeowner's second home — sold two weeks after the project closed. "It was situated in the best part of the channel and had great down-channel views, so the way we organized the flow of the rooms definitely helped make it appealing," Byrd says of the six-month project and $400,000 investment. "But more than that, the quality of the materials shows through. I see so many other builders that try to cut costs in finishes, and that's the wrong way to go. With best finishes and best design, we've seen that the buyer will pay extra."
REMODELER AND ARCHITECT: Byrd Development, Woodland Hills, Calif.
PROJECT LOCATION: Oxnard, Calif.
AGE OF HOME: 25 years
SCOPE OF WORK: Updating the streetscape of a contemporary, 3,500-square-foot home to blend with the neighborhood
Products List
HVAC: Carrier Garage Door Openers: Chamberlain (LiftMaster) Home Systems & Controls: Lutron Insulation: Georgia-Pacific Paints & Stains: Benjamin Moore, Pratt & Lambert, Farrow & Ball Millwork & Molding: Architectural Timber & Millwork Roofing: CertainTeed, Owens Corning Windows: Milgard
Richard Byrd at Byrd Development believes the crown jewel of this project lies in the finishes — Marabou hardwood floors imported from Indonesia, seven-layer custom lacquer on the cabinet doors and furniture-quality tobacco finished on the solid core 8-foot doors
"This project really made us refocus the company in terms of spending more time in the design and planning phase, with storyboards just making sure every detail is picked out, planned and purchased before you start construction," Byrd says. "Having a design that's really been thought out increases your choice of materials because you are better-prepared for long lead times and you have more time to thoroughly investigate every option."