A Home Opens to the Outdoors
Maneesh Jain and Nadya Ramsaroop had already started remodeling their San Francisco home when they had a revelation. After tearing down the walls in the back of their home to construct a new kitchen-dining area, they realized that they could also install a bifold door on the rear wall to connect the new open-plan space to their backyard. And so their whole-house renovation — designed to create a larger, more modern and comfortable home for their family of four — expanded to include a better indoor-outdoor connection.
Before Photo
“After” photos by Bruce DaMonte
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Nadya Ramsaroop, Maneesh Jain and their two children
Location: San Francisco
Size: 3,240 square feet (301 square meters); four bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms
Architect: David Yama, principal at YamaMar Design
BEFORE: This is a view of the house from the backyard before the remodel. Downstairs, in the back of the house, the kitchen was on the left and the master bedroom was on the right. Above, the couple’s daughters shared a bedroom on the attic level.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Nadya Ramsaroop, Maneesh Jain and their two children
Location: San Francisco
Size: 3,240 square feet (301 square meters); four bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms
Architect: David Yama, principal at YamaMar Design
BEFORE: This is a view of the house from the backyard before the remodel. Downstairs, in the back of the house, the kitchen was on the left and the master bedroom was on the right. Above, the couple’s daughters shared a bedroom on the attic level.
AFTER: The renovated home offers an indoor-outdoor connection on two levels. The re-landscaped backyard includes a barbecue and seating area, and connects to the open-plan kitchen, dining and living area. Upstairs, the girls’ new bedroom opens to a rooftop deck.
The renovated home shows off the couple’s clean, simple design aesthetic.
The family enjoys cooking, so they wanted an open area with lots of counter space and an island that could comfortably seat four. Ramsaroop says family members spend the majority of their time in this great room and often keep the doors open. Ramsaroop loves the renovated backyard area and the indoor-outdoor connection.
The dining area is on the right, and a casual seating area is located at the bottom right, just outside the shot.
The dining area is on the right, and a casual seating area is located at the bottom right, just outside the shot.
The kitchen island is 7½ feet by 2½ feet and features Caesarstone countertops with a waterfall edge, chosen to make the island appear more monolithic, architect David Yama says.
The layout is a typical galley kitchen. To keep it modern, Yama used paint-grade cabinets in white with minimal hardware. “We like to downplay the cabinets to be just lines and not material expressions,” he says.
The layout is a typical galley kitchen. To keep it modern, Yama used paint-grade cabinets in white with minimal hardware. “We like to downplay the cabinets to be just lines and not material expressions,” he says.
Ramsaroop was drawn to the color of this Heath Ceramics tile. Although each piece looks like a different shade of blue, they’re all the same color, Yama says.
The kitchen is fairly small, and there’s only one run of cabinets, so storage was a challenge. To add storage area, Yama had the lower cabinets built to be 30 inches deep and the upper cabinets 18 inches deep, bigger than the standard size. Besides adding storage, it also allows for an extra 6 inches of countertop space behind the stove for storing cooking items.
To break up the cabinet space, Yama inserted two open shelves in white oak on either side of the stove.
The kitchen is fairly small, and there’s only one run of cabinets, so storage was a challenge. To add storage area, Yama had the lower cabinets built to be 30 inches deep and the upper cabinets 18 inches deep, bigger than the standard size. Besides adding storage, it also allows for an extra 6 inches of countertop space behind the stove for storing cooking items.
To break up the cabinet space, Yama inserted two open shelves in white oak on either side of the stove.
This den seating area, with sectional sofa, TV and fireplace, is part of the great room. The couple really liked the open shelving in the kitchen, so Yama repeated the design on a larger scale here. The homeowners replaced a wood-burning fireplace with this rectangular gas fireplace. On the right side of this picture, a hallway leads to the front of the house.
In the backyard, landscape architect Alain Peauroi created a minimalist outdoor retreat. He stuck to three materials: raw cedar, blue decomposed granite and Cor-Ten steel.
The yard was bordered on two sides by 3-foot retaining walls. Peauroi clad them in cedar to create a long seating area along the perimeter.
The yard was bordered on two sides by 3-foot retaining walls. Peauroi clad them in cedar to create a long seating area along the perimeter.
Down the center of the yard, an angled boardwalk leads to a fire pit and sitting area. The walkway is raised above the decomposed granite, which features more aggregate than similar products to minimize tracking.
The boardwalk passes through a tiered edible garden framed in Cor-Ten steel. The couple wanted a place to grow vegetables. Ramsaroop says this garden is one of her favorite features, and they harvest lettuces and herbs from it several nights a week.
Because the yard is mostly shaded, Peauroi picked hardy plants, such as native grasses and succulents, that don’t require heavy watering or sunlight to survive.
Because the yard is mostly shaded, Peauroi picked hardy plants, such as native grasses and succulents, that don’t require heavy watering or sunlight to survive.
The homeowners chose the lone tree, a non-fruit-bearing olive. It provides shade at the back of the yard, where there’s a custom Cor-Ten steel fireplace and seating area.
Back indoors, this picture taken from the front of the house looks toward the kitchen and the backyard. On the left is a stairway to the upper floor where the master suite is now located. On the right are stairs that lead down to the front door.
The design aesthetic for the project was clean and crisp, Yama says. Instead of iron or wood stair rails, he chose tempered glass to maintain an openness in the house. Simple lines are emphasized in the glass guard railings, which are fastened into black gaskets running along the wall and floor. Those lines are mirrored in the edges of the glass, which appear black, even though they’re not.
In such a minimalist space, even simple lines — such as the slim edge of engineered white oak flooring on the bottom stairs — become focal points.
The design aesthetic for the project was clean and crisp, Yama says. Instead of iron or wood stair rails, he chose tempered glass to maintain an openness in the house. Simple lines are emphasized in the glass guard railings, which are fastened into black gaskets running along the wall and floor. Those lines are mirrored in the edges of the glass, which appear black, even though they’re not.
In such a minimalist space, even simple lines — such as the slim edge of engineered white oak flooring on the bottom stairs — become focal points.
In the front of the house, the couple seized another opportunity to gain outdoor living space. Off the living room, seen in the foreground, they built a deck that sits on top of an in-law unit and their garage. New retractable doors connect the indoors and outdoors, opening the living room to dramatic San Francisco views.
Out on the deck, Peauroi designed a planter box made of Cor-Ten steel to frame the cedar floorboards. The unfinished cedar will take on a raw, weathered look over time.
These before-and-after floor plans show how the home’s bottom level (located on the second floor of the building above a first-floor in-law unit) changed in the renovation. The new deck is shown at the top of the “after” plan on the right. At the bottom of the drawing, the great room (with open-plan seating, dining and kitchen areas) was fashioned out of what had been separate rooms for the dining room, kitchen and master suite.
BEFORE: Here you can see what the front of the house looked like before the renovation. The home’s front door is to the right of the two-car garage. Directly above the garage is the in-law unit. Above that is the roof area, which was converted into the living room deck. The first level of the family home, with the wide picture window, sits back above the in-law unit and garage. On top is the attic level, which had two bedrooms and a bathroom.
AFTER: The remodeled home, now painted blue, is seen in the middle of this shot. The new living room deck is bordered by the copper-colored Cor-Ten steel planter boxes. The attic level has been expanded and squared off. This upper floor now houses three bedrooms and two baths. The master bath is on the left, and the master bedroom is on the right at the front of the house.
The master bathroom enjoys a view of the city from its perch on the top floor. The room was skinny and long, so Yama emphasized the view. The free-standing tub was placed in front of the large window to make it the focal point.
The master bathroom vanity has two sinks with a limestone countertop.
The shower features a skylight and a denim-inspired tile that Ramsaroop found.
The girls also got a new bedroom. They had been sharing a room before the renovation and didn’t want to be split up, Ramsaroop says. The family built one large bedroom for them with separate closets and lighting controls so that they could easily erect a wall or divide the space if the girls eventually change their minds.
The girls’ bedroom looks out to the backyard.
The girls’ bathroom has a fun and dramatic tile design. Ramsaroop fell in love with the honeycomb turquoise tile, and Yama wanted to do something playful with it. He tiled the shower area in solid turquoise. As the tile emerges from the shower enclosure, the pattern breaks up to blend into the plaster.
The flooring throughout the house is the same blond hardwood. Although some flinch at the idea of hardwood floors in the bathroom, Yama says it’s fine and keeps continuity throughout the space.
The flooring throughout the house is the same blond hardwood. Although some flinch at the idea of hardwood floors in the bathroom, Yama says it’s fine and keeps continuity throughout the space.
Outside the girls’ bedroom and bathroom is a small seating area for doing homework or lounging. The storage wall acts as a piece of art.
Yama chose paint-grade cabinets featuring shades of gray in a random pattern to turn the hidden storage into a focal point.
Ramsaroop credits the design and construction team for bringing forth great ideas and making what was a long process run as smoothly as possible. “The design that emerged is better than we could all imagine,” she says.
Ramsaroop credits the design and construction team for bringing forth great ideas and making what was a long process run as smoothly as possible. “The design that emerged is better than we could all imagine,” she says.