Out of the Box

Updating and expanding a '70s house brought an Alamo family more space and Mount Diablo views.

CAREWORN, BOXY, OUTDATED: That’s how a young Alamo family began to see their mid–1970s house that was considered cutting edge when originally built. The home had many things going for it, including its killer Mount Diablo views. If the family didn’t want to move, what options did they have? Raze the house and start from scratch? Or, renovate to match their active and social lifestyle while preserving pleasing and sentimental details?

Ultimately, emotions ran too high for the owners to walk away. They selected option three: a hybrid of options one and two. The result is a transformed house that is a seamless amalgam of new construction, renovation, and preservation. Driving by the unmistakably new home that now embraces its Mount Diablo panorama, you’d never guess that it encases a formerly introverted structure built in a style that the family joked was “fast-food friendly.”

Once committed to their strategy, the owners looked to their contractor, R&J Construction of Danville, for input. R&J, in turn, tapped architect David Banducci, principal of Banducci Associates Architects (BAA), a Danville- and San Jose–based firm with a strong commercial portfolio, and a growing presence in residential architecture. The family agreed on BAA for its architectural expertise and fluency with contemporary forms, as well as for its comprehensive interior design services.

“My preference is to merge the interior design scheme with the architecture early in the development of the design,” explains Banducci. His wife and partner, interior designer Karen Banducci, notes, “That approach coincided with the owners’ goals and also assured that our aesthetic decisions were consistent both in choosing materials and adhering to the project parameters.”

“We designed the renovation from the inside out,” David Banducci adds, describing a collaborative process that expanded the original 4,400-square-foot home to 6,450 square feet, with surprisingly little growth of the footprint. “I started by deconstructing the existing home, retaining portions, changing others, and then drawing a plan to unify the new and old elements.”

Sited at the front of a flat, tree-bordered promontory with a north-south exposure, the home’s approach travels uphill at an oblique angle. The setting has always had dramatic potential, but until the renovation, the house hid its charms. Now, the redesigned house engages actively with its surroundings and casts its gaze outward to a rising vista of rolling open space. Rather than the flat, monochrome facade of the original structure, Banducci delivers an offbeat play of staggered additions, angled and uneven rooflines, and color and textural changes on the exterior walls. Cedar siding, integrally colored plaster, metal canopies and roofing, and stone are his palette. Details such as the railings on the master bedroom’s floating deck and the stairway from the boys’ playroom are collaborations with artisans made on-site.

But, the design element that adds the crowning touch to the home’s revised architecture is glass—not the huge expanses found in the white-cube modern school, but a comprehensive variety of framed window styles that meet the natural lighting needs of the interior spaces. The windows and glass-fronted doors, with their bold red trim, become the means of unifying indoor and outdoor environments. Of note are folding glass doors that open to extensive outdoor spaces and edgy corner windows that zero in on a Mount Diablo view. Even the garage doors are faced with translucent glass.

All told, the result of the exterior transformation is bold, even extroverted, like the owners; the inside story is another matter. That realm is all about balance: public and private, work and play, family and friends, adult and child. The main floor is an activity zone with hardwood floors, white walls, abundant natural light, and a combination of recessed and wall-accent lighting. Banducci tackles generous spatial proportions deftly with floor- and ceiling-level changes, custom built-ins (including a saltwater fish tank), and a curved half-wall.

Visitors step down into a living room that features a lowered ceiling while formal dining is up two steps; both rooms access the outdoors. The entry soars to a window-lit second story and showcases an Ingo Mauer light sculpture. Banducci shows his mettle as a manipulator of natural light in the family room, where he subdues solar overexposure from a ceiling-high bank of windows with a feat of architectural magic he describes as a light shelf: a second shade-enhancing eave running roughly parallel to the roofline, which balances the daylight in the vaulted room.

Upstairs, Karen Banducci shows sensitivity to the nesting needs of parents, with a landing/library that serves as a divide between kid and adult spaces. On the parents’ side, a reading alcove and sliding French doors shield them from the fray. In contrast, down the hall, the boys enjoy a mix of exuberant and practical spaces: private bedrooms, an extensive game room with backyard access, and, perhaps to their dismay, a homework room.

Reflecting on the project as he walks through the home, David Banducci says, with a satisfied nod, “I could be comfortable here.” What better testament to a livable family home. ■

Jennifer Rounds is a Walnut Creek–based textile artist and writer who covers home design and architecture.