Looking for a green-building expert to help you with your home or remodel? The Build It Green program offers a certification program for building professionals who want to show their proficiency in creating buildings that are more healthy, energy-efficient, resource-efficient, comfortable and durable that conventional homes and buildings. To become a Certified Green Building Professional,…
If you’re a lover of bungalow homes and want a chance to drool, I suggest The New Bungalow Kitchen, a recently published Taunton Press book by Virginia architect Peter LaBau. "Classic charm meets modern convenience," the book jacket says. "Craftsmanship, comfort, and a little piece of history. This is what bungalow kitchens are all about."…
When Patricia Morrow and her two children finally outgrew their two-bedroom North Hollywood home, it was obvious that something had to be done. I was sleeping in my daughter’s room and my son was in the other room," said Morrow, who had bought the house with her then-husband in 1970, pre-parenthood. "It was obvious there…
You have to admire architects, designers and contractors who can picture 3-dimentional space by looking at a set of blueprints. I’m not among them, and you might not be either. Of course, 3-D renderings on the computer have made it easier to imagine the corner cabinet or island your designer is suggesting. But for a…
If you’ve been following the career of architect Sarah Susanka, author of the “Not So Big House” books, you’ve been able to read her words, see her house photos and even see her in person (she is a speaker at the West Coast Green conference coming up Sept. 20 to 22 in San Francisco). Now…
Here’s a story I wrote for today’s L.A. Times about an ugly-duckling duplex that was turned into an Eastside swan by a couple who think they’ll stay awhile: Daniel Curet was a contented apartment dweller looking for an Eastside investment property a few years ago when his plans took a sudden turn on a narrow,…
If a new custom home or major remodel might require a year and a few hundred thousand dollars to pull off — or more — wouldn’t it make sense to spend a week thinking about it? I’m talking about spending an intensive week in Vermont, at the Yestermorrow Design/Build School, which I did a few…
Earlier this year, the so-called Solar Umbrella house — designed by owners and architects Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa and built by Above Board Construction in West Los Angeles — won a 2007 Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects. The innovative house is hard to describe and luckily it’s built in Venice where…
What do you think happens to the trees that come down in our neighborhoods? Last year, I had three pines taken down because of the aggressive topping by the electric company under whose power lines the trees were growing. I was left with several piles of logs, which I finally persuaded a firewood seller to…
A cramped bungalow becomes a 5,000-square-foot oasis with plenty of elbow room for all. The first thing you notice about Janet Mitsui Brown’s remodeled Mar Vista home is its sense of balance, harmony and consistency. The slate on the fence posts is repeated on the chimney, the front steps and into the foyer. The red-toned…