Inside a playful Palo Alto Eichler renovation that honors its midcentury roots

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Eichler front entry with dark gray vertical siding and a slanted cedar slat pivot gate opening onto an exposed aggregate walkway with brick bands

This Palo Alto Eichler renovation by Klopf Structure took 5 years and three phases to finish. The shoppers are an government mother, her two younger youngsters and their canine.

Quite than erasing what makes Eichlers distinctive, the redesign celebrates it. A bigger kitchen now opens onto the nice room. New floor-to-ceiling glass connects the residing area to the atrium. On the entry, a customized slanted wooden slat pivot gate provides privateness with out blocking the sunshine.

Alongside the way in which, Klopf’s new inside design division carried the imaginative and prescient by means of to the furnishings. Highlights vary from customized leather-based counter stools to playful rest room tile. Proceed under to see the remainder of this fabulous residence tour…

DESIGN DETAILS

ARCHITECT Klopf Structure
INTERIOR DESIGN AND FF&E Klopf Structure
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER BASE Design Inc.
CONTRACTOR Keycon Inc.

Slanted cedar slat pivot gate swung open at the front of the gray Eichler, revealing the glass wall of the entry atrium

Three Phases, One Household: Inside a Klopf Eichler Transform

When an government mother and her two younger youngsters moved into their Eichler, she made a deliberate selection. She would renovate the house in a means that honored the qualities that make Eichlers distinctive, slightly than erasing them.

That call set the tone for what would develop into a five-year, three-phase collaboration with structure and inside design agency Klopf Structure and basic contractor Keycon. The work touched practically each room in the home. Alongside the way in which, it turned a client-architect relationship into one thing nearer.

Entry atrium with a multi-trunk tree in a planting bed in front of a floor-to-ceiling glass wall looking into the living space

What We Love About This Residence

This Palo Alto Eichler renovation fantastically updates a midcentury residence whereas honoring its authentic character. We love the shiny inexperienced hexagon tile backsplash within the kitchen. It units a playful tone that carries by means of to the pastel stacked tile within the loos. Different favorites embrace the nice and cozy wood-paneled bed room, the navy slatted lounge wall and the cedar pivot gate. General, the challenge workforce created a cohesive, light-filled residence that feels tailor-made to this household’s on a regular basis life.

Inform Us: What are your general ideas on this renovation challenge? Tell us within the Feedback under; we love studying your suggestions!

Observe: You should definitely try a few our favourite Eichler residence excursions that we’ve featured right here on One Kindesign from the portfolio of the architects of this challenge, Klopf Structure: An Eichler residence in Palo Alto will get renovated with a superb courtyard and Eichler residence renovation celebrates indoor-outdoor residing in Palo Alto.

View from the atrium past a multi-trunk tree and the open cedar slat gate toward the street, with globe wall lights on gray siding

Above: A customized slanted wooden slat pivot gate lets mild filter into the atrium. It additionally blocks sight strains from passersby.

Dwelling By the Work

In contrast to many remodels the place shoppers decamp to a rental throughout building, this household stayed put by means of all three phases. So the Klopf workforce didn’t simply design the house. They watched the household stay in it, room by room, in actual time.

Part 1 coated the kitchen and residing areas. By the point later phases started, the workforce had already seen how the household used these areas.

Open great room with a large-format gray tile floor, a mustard velvet chair and gray sofa, looking toward the dining area and kitchen

That suggestions loop and conversations with the shopper formed the remainder of the challenge straight. She shared her suggestions with the design workforce alongside the way in which. As she put it, “all through the assorted phases as they have been accomplished, every day I seen a brand new element.”

As an example, she beloved the Part 1 kitchen counter tops. So the workforce used the identical counter tops within the later loos. She additionally beloved the playful kitchen backsplash tile. That sense of sample and play carried into her Part 2 rest room and a second bathtub in Part 3.

The result’s a house the place every section speaks to those earlier than it. It by no means reads as a sequence of disconnected updates.

A Bigger Kitchen With Playful Hexagon Tile

Round oak pedestal dining table with navy upholstered chairs in front of the kitchen island and green hexagon tile wall

Kitchen island with a white waterfall countertop, oak base and leather counter stools under globe pendants, with a green and white hexagon tile backsplash

Brass faucet on a white quartz island in front of a glossy green hexagon tile backsplash and stainless range hood

Above: The shopper beloved this playful hexagon backsplash tile. The design workforce carried its sense of sample and play into the later loos.

Wall of oak cabinetry with a stainless French-door refrigerator and double wall ovens beneath a skylight in the white plank ceiling

Oak tambour appliance garage beside a white quartz counter, drawer microwave and green hexagon tile backsplash

Opening Up the Middle of the Home

On the coronary heart of the challenge was a reorganization of the house’s most-used areas. Klopf reclaimed a former eating space off the nice room to construct a bigger kitchen. The kitchen now opens straight onto the residing area. That frees up room for the household to collect for studying, video games, meals and TV. It’s the strange enterprise of day by day life with two children and a canine.

Living room with a gray sectional and walnut coffee table against a navy slatted wall, beside a white block fireplace and floor-to-ceiling glass

New floor-to-ceiling glass panels now join the residing area to the house’s atrium. They pull in mild and views from each instructions, doubling down on the Eichler’s signature indoor-outdoor connection.

However extra glass additionally meant much less privateness, significantly on the entry. There, a brand new wall of glass would have opened the courtyard on to the road. Klopf’s answer was a customized slanted wooden slat pivot gate on the entrance of the home. It lets mild filter by means of whereas blocking sight strains from passersby.

It’s a small architectural gesture that solves an actual drawback. The gate creates privateness with out sacrificing the light-filled openness on the coronary heart of the redesign.

Gray sofa with velvet pillows, a walnut coffee table and a black floor lamp against a navy slatted wall, with a bedroom visible through the glass beyond

Sunlit sitting area with mustard velvet lounge chairs, a paper floor lamp and a geometric painting, with a rain chain outside the glass

5 Years and Elevated Capabilities

A challenge of this size not often survives with the identical workforce intact, and this one didn’t. Klopf’s authentic challenge chief left the agency partway by means of. John Klopf and Elise Webb, nevertheless, stayed on from begin to end for continuity.

As an alternative of shrinking, the Klopf workforce truly grew when the agency shaped its new inside design division in 2024. The shopper was enthusiastic about these new capabilities. She welcomed designers Justine Alvarez and Ekaterina Nesterova on board, and the architectural scope grew to become an architecture-plus-interiors effort.

In the long run, Klopf designed all of it: the outside envelope and format, plus supplies, colours, furnishings, décor and ending touches.

Gray velvet sofa with a blush pillow against a dark wood-paneled wall, beside a fluted wood side table, built-in bookshelves and a jute rug

What started as an architectural renovation grew to become one thing extra complete. The workforce reimagined the house’s interiors in addition to its bones, all the way down to the containers on the lavatory counter.

A Walnut-Wrapped Laundry Room

Walnut-paneled laundry room with a stacked washer and dryer, leading under a skylight to a bathroom with a frosted window

Walnut laundry room cabinetry with a white counter and sage green stacked tile backsplash, with a vase of blue thistles

Sage green vertical stacked tile backsplash beneath walnut upper cabinets, with a dark vase of blue thistles on the counter

Carrying the Imaginative and prescient By to the Furnishings

Klopf’s inside design division helped flip good structure into a spot a household truly lives. The interiors workforce labored intently with the shopper on furnishings, materials, lighting and equipment. They sourced items from makers and distributors in each the U.S. and Europe.

The guiding thought was continuity: every bit wanted to really feel prefer it belonged in the home, not added to it.

The customized counter stools are a superb instance. They decide up on the kitchen’s cabinetry supplies. The workforce selected the leather-based rigorously, so the seating reads as a part of the identical architectural language. The couch, rug, pillows and different items adopted the identical logic. The workforce weighed each’s materials, shade and proportion in opposition to the structure round it.

Even the playful character of the lavatory tile discovered its means into the furnishings. It reveals up as enjoyable accents within the textiles and finishes, all whereas staying period-appropriate to the Eichler.

A Second Lavatory With Playful Accent Tile

Bathroom with white vertical tile scattered with pink, blue, green and mustard accents, a walnut vanity, green globe sconce and tiled tub

The interiors workforce additionally benefited from the suggestions loop that formed the structure. When deciding on furnishings, they took cues from earlier materials and design choices. Because of this, the completed residence reads as one steady thought, not a stack of separate choices.

Walnut vanity with a brass wall-mounted faucet and towel ring against gray stone, below white tile dotted with pastel and mustard accents

Above: Scattered pastel and mustard accent tiles carry a way of sample and play to this rest room, echoing the kitchen backsplash.

Navigating Tariffs and Customized Furnishings Lead Occasions

That continuity got here with its personal hardships. A couple of months after furnishings buying started, new tariffs took impact. They affected the general furnishings finances and sophisticated ordering and expediting items.

Walnut coffee table, olive sofa with rust and green velvet pillows, and a sculptural oak side table against a navy slatted wall

Creating customized furnishings added one other layer of coordination. Aligning cloth and leather-based samples and wooden finishes with the structure meant shut, ongoing communication with makers. As a result of makers produced some items internationally, the workforce needed to rigorously handle lead occasions, transport and customs. In just a few situations, that pushed the timeline out additional nonetheless.

Two mustard velvet tufted lounge chairs beneath a large geometric painting, beside a paper floor lamp and a rain chain outside the glass

In the long run, the additional time was value it. It allowed the workforce to get the supplies and particulars proper and hold the design cohesive.

A Relationship, Not Only a Undertaking

Ask the Klopf workforce what made this challenge distinctive, and the reply isn’t actually about sq. footage or finishes. It’s about time.

Over 5 years, the workforce acquired to know the household in a means a shorter challenge by no means permits. They watched the children head off to summer time camp and met the foster kittens that handed by means of the home. They even acquired to know the canine walker’s day by day routine. It grew to become an expert relationship that was additionally a private one.

Children’ Bedrooms Designed With Their Enter

That closeness prolonged into the design course of itself as soon as the interiors workforce got here on board. The shopper made a degree of involving her children in conferences about their very own rooms. They acquired to share their imaginative and prescient and hopes for the areas.

Kid's bedroom with a dark wildflower wallpaper accent wall, rust and green linen bedding, a cane nightstand and a wood ladder bookshelf

Her daughter, specifically, was thrilled to work with an inside designer and assist construct her dream room. It’s a small element, but it surely reveals how totally this challenge grew to become a household effort.

White and cane nightstand with a smoky glass lamp against dark wildflower wallpaper, beside a bed with rust linen bedding

Kid's bedroom with walnut corner floating shelves of books and sports collectibles, a neon basketball wall light and navy plaid bedding

Above: The youngsters weighed in on the imaginative and prescient for their very own bedrooms throughout conferences with the inside design workforce.

A Residence Signed by the Individuals Who Constructed It

That closeness reveals up in the home itself. Throughout Part 1, the shopper requested everybody concerned to signal the horse wall within the new kitchen. The Klopf workforce, the shopper, her children, and the Keycon crew all left their names there. It’s a everlasting file of the individuals who constructed the home collectively.

The shopper stated: “I’m stuffed with pleasure and gratitude to have the ability to stay in such a lovely area and to have gotten the possibility to work with such a proficient workforce. The mark of true artistry is the eye to element that enables one to expertise the design in several methods. One is perhaps wanting on the identical view, however due to the way in which the sunshine strikes, it’s a completely totally different perspective.”

A Heat, Wooden-Paneled Bed room

Bedroom with a blue-gray channel-tufted bed centered on a wood-paneled wall between two brass globe pendants casting warm light, with glass to the garden

Channel-tufted bed and walnut nightstand under a warm-lit globe pendant, with sheer white curtains drawn across floor-to-ceiling glass

Bed with linen bedding and a mauve throw beside a warm-lit globe pendant and a corner window looking out to the garden

Warm-lit globe pendant hanging over a walnut nightstand against a wood-paneled wall, beside a blue-gray upholstered headboard

Vintage walnut nightstand with books on its lower shelf and a pink bud vase, under a warm-lit globe pendant against wood paneling

By the point the third section wrapped, a working joke had unfold on web site. No person truly wished the challenge to finish, and the workforce half-seriously floated the thought of a “Part 4.”

It’s a becoming observe for this challenge. It was by no means about any single renovation. It was a couple of household and their architects rising, fairly actually, alongside each other.

A Lavatory With Pastel Stacked Tile

Walnut floating double vanity with wall-mounted brass faucets, a walnut-framed mirror and stacked blush, mint and gray tile

Brass sconce and towel ring above a speckled gray stone backsplash and walnut vanity, with blush and mint vertical tile above

Wall-mounted brass faucet over an undermount sink against speckled gray stone, with a walnut-framed mirror and pastel tile above

Above: The shopper beloved the Part 1 kitchen counter tops, so the workforce used the identical ones within the later loos.

Curbless shower with stacked blush and white tile, a brass rain showerhead and a tall frosted window topped by a clear transom

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