Larger Kitchen in Julia Morgan Home

What the Clients Asked for

• The Owners came to Levitch wanting to explore a larger Kitchen that would be more open to adjacent areas. They also wanted to relocate Laundry and create a full Bathroom.

Design Solution

• While their home isn’t protected under landmark status, it was designed by Julia Morgan so we wanted to be especially respectful to the original design and details.
• The new design takes advantage of an addition to widen the Kitchen between the Nook and Bedroom for better flow through the Kitchen and to the Nook and Dining Room beyond.
  • Part of the home was already in the setback, so we had to go through extra levels of review to get the addition approved.
  • Skylights at the addition (sink wall) flood the Kitchen with natural light.
  • Instead of a wall, a peninsula with seating the Owners wanted divides the Kitchen proper from what had been a Nook into a perfect spot to work from home with a built-in desk under the window.
• The previous side by side washer and dryer became stacked machines to free up space for a full Bathroom accessible through the Bedroom, where a partial Bathroom had been.
• Because the Kitchen addition covered one of the adjacent Bedroom windows, we also changed the door to the Bedroom and placed a new window beyond the addition to retain daylight in the space.

Construction Notes

• We set up a temporary Kitchen for the Owners during construction at the nearby Dining Room.

Photography by Treve Johnson