Lookiloos caught up with San Jose architect Jean Rose, who has worked for Prodis Associates for 22 years, designing residential, commercial and public projects.
Q. Many new additions these days are family rooms on the back of the house. What are your primary goals when building a rear addition?
A. We like to have a strong connection between the family room and backyard, especially if there is a pool or a nice view. With this house the family room was so disconnected from the back yard you could barely see the pool (see
before photo).
Rear Addition Before Photo
Adding big windows not only improved the view, but it brought lots of natural light into the interior (see after photo).
Rear Addition After Photo
We’re in California, we like to take advantage of the weather we have and bringing natural light into the house makes it more cheerful. We also like the family room to be open to the kitchen, if possible.
Q. How do you respect the style of the existing house when making such a large addition?
Rear Addition Exterior Photo
A. It’s important to incorporate the exterior form with the rest of the building so it doesn’t look like an addition. (see exterior photo.)
On the interior, though, especially if it’s a kitchen or a family room, it doesn’t have to match the rest of the house. It can be really fun. It can be more personal and reflect the owners’ style. In this residence, we added an eating counter in the kitchen that was very geometric, and the clients chose some unique materials.
Q. What do you take into consideration when you’re designing a new front facade?
A. Sometimes we have an opportunity to give a house its own character, especially if it’s just one of many tract houses in a subdivision (see before photo).
Front View Before Photo
In this new facade (see after photo) designed by my colleague, Lon Dunaway, the client wanted some more traditional detailing. It’s a small house with small rooms. We wanted to make it feel bigger. We opened the interior space by taking out some walls and raising the roof. Adding those high windows in the living room gave the space more volume and light and made it feel like a bigger house.
Front Facade After Photo
Q. How should people go about choosing an architect?
A. They should have a conversation with the architect about what their goals are, and they should look at some of the architect’s work. They should not expect to ‘pick something out of a book’, but they should be comfortable with the work that they see. In the end, the homeowner will hopefully get something more than what they imagined. But at the same time they’ll have achieved their goals.
For more information contact Jean Rose at ProdisAssociates.com or 408-984-1377.
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