Table of contents for Renovation Guide 2025 in Atomic Ranch

THIS HOME, LOCATED IN BELLEVUE, Washington’s Lake Hills neighborhood—the Eastside’s first Planned Unit Development (PUD)—was built in 1958 by Bell and Valdez as a one-story building measuring 1,650 square feet with three bedrooms and two baths. The current homeowners, Darrell and Evonne Benedict, longtime friends and neighbors of Rick Chesmore, principal architect at Chesmore/Buck Architecture, asked him to modernize the kitchen and open the main living spaces, expand the view to the backyard garden and add more efficient lighting as well as additional ceiling insulation. “The kitchen was in the middle of the Great Room with a dropped ceiling at 7’ x 6” high with walls enclosing the space and was only accessed by two 2’x 6” wide doorways leading to two different rooms,” Rick says. “The enclosed kitchen enclosed…

FOR MANY, MID MOD DESIGN immediately conjures images of cozy ranchos with walls of windows settled amongst palm trees and desert landscapes. However, the Pacific Northwest boats of its own iteration of MCM architecture and design, shaped and promoted by several brilliant architects who utilized the style within the context of wetter, colder weather, woodlands, hills and mountains. Saul Zaik is one of the renowned architects of this region who has had a profound influence on modernist residential developments. Among his projects, he designed this home for friend and next-door neighbor, interior designer Howard Hermanson. EAST MEETS NORTHWEST Featuring three structures – a house, tea pavilion and studio/garage – the property appears to be part of the wooded landscape that surrounds it, each structure linked by elevated wood walkways and…

RELOCATE OR RENOVATE? One of the most difficult decisions homeowners face when they’ve outgrown their homes is whether to move to a larger house or add onto their current one. The decision becomes even more complicated when the family is living in a stylish and well-constructed mid-century home. But for Rebeca Lamadrid and Daniel Bremer-Wirtig, the decision was an easy one: They still loved their Mid Century Modern home and location, and they wanted their young family to continue to enjoy it in the coming years—with some much-needed modifications for it to grow along with them. Rebeca and Daniel hired Four Brothers Design + Build, based in Washington, D.C., to increase the space and improve the functionality of their beloved home. “The clients reached out to us when they saw…

WHETHER IT’S WHAT GETS YOU INTO your future dream home or it’s your foray into a mod-minded investment property, there is a lot to consider when buying that fixer upper on the market with the attractive sale price. Kimber Dempsey is a Denver-based mid century modern real estate specialist who also recently bought a property, that was a major renovation undertaking. So between her experience helping people buy and sell mod homes and her own experiences taking on extensive renovation projects she’s got a lot of hard-earned advice that will help you enter into your fixer upper buy with more confidence and less surprises. “You have to know that the bones are good and be able to assess that from an inspection standpoint everything is in good shape,” Kimber says.…

THE BEST KITCHENS ARE LIGHT, airy, and welcoming spaces where you can enjoy everyday meals and late-night snacks. But what do you do if your kitchen is dark? Worse still, what if the kitchen falls on the smaller side? For the homeowner of this historic Pasadena condo, reaching out to Goli Karimi, Design Director of Home Front Build, made the most sense because Goli believes kitchen design should be both beautiful and functional. SMALL GALLEY The homeowner tasked Goli with finding ways to better brighten the small galley kitchen, while also making it seem bigger. As a designer, Goli likes to honor the past, but she is still forward thinking in terms of crafting design choices that work for today’s homeowners. “If the original cabinets had been decent, we would…

EVEN WHEN YOU FIND A MID CENTURY MODERN HOME in good condition, including being miraculously undisturbed by bad remodels, it still needs to be brought up to 21st century standards. Homeowner and designer Tom Eich articulates it well, “How do you keep the spirit of the house while keeping it alive for the next century?” For instance, a tiny kitchen, single pane windows, outdoor laundry are all things that most 21st century homeowners would want to adjust. Fortunately, Tom says, “This is a cool house. I thought so from the moment I first saw it.” While the architect is unknown, the house was clearly designed by a thoughtful professional. Every room has a view to the surrounding mountains with clerestory windows perfectly placed to that purpose. The 1962 home also…

PERIOD PERFECTION Wondering if going big with color would be appropriate for your postwar kitchen? Look no further than the past with this Jim Sherrill-designed home in Hickory, North Carolina. Homeowners Chad Baker and Tina Clement were lucky—and stoked—to find that the home still had its original kitchen from when it was built in 1963. “The vibrant colors, and perfectly aged wood in our kitchen is one of the greatest reasons we bought the house, Chad says. “It would be a sin to change the kitchen—we love it.” BRING THE SUNSHINE IN At just 984 total square feet, this 1959 Krisel designed jewel box in the Windy Pointe neighborhood of Palm Springs proves that even small spaces can handle big doses of color. The kitchen is nearly all original with…

LIGHTING WALLPAPER PLUMBING TILE FINISHING TOUCHES…

TERRAZZO IS A MOD DESIGN DARLING. But can it fit into your budget? Well, where there is a will there is a way and now with the availability of ready-made terrazzo tiles and other products, getting the chic look and historic elegance of terrazzo is more in reach than you might think. From the floors of the Chrysler building and the Library of Congress to the glamourous homes of the rich and famous in Palm Springs, nothing says modernist luxury quite like terrazzo. Nothing says luxury like the price tag either. The material has been in use for centuries but it was actually considered a humble construction technique because it utilized marble, glass and stone chips or scraps. But its beauty has always been undeniable and its durability has given…

“THE OUTDOOR AREAS OF THE HOME WERE ALSO IMPROVED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SUN PATTERNS, WIND OFF CEDAR LAKE, AND THE NATURAL PRIVACY FROM PLANTINGS AROUND THE PROPERTY.” SITTING ATOP A BLUFF OVERLOOKING CEDAR LAKE and downtown Minneapolis, this 1955 home is historic not only due to its age but because it was designed by one of Minnesota’s first female architects, Elizabeth Scheu Close. When the current homeowners saw the place, they knew it was where they wanted to spend the rest of their days. As a result, they turned to the PKA Architecture team to stay true to the spirit of the home while transforming it from two stories to one. The idea was to make the home amenable to aging in place—designing for the homeowners’ future while honoring…

AS THE POPULARITY OF MID CENTURY MODERN HAS GROWN, it has become more challenging for homeowners to get their hands on an authentic MCM property. So sometimes, you have to get creative. That was the case for interior designer Stacy Kosis of Nook Design Collective. “That’s my personal aesthetic, and I’ve been fortunate to work on it [professionally],” she says. She grew up in a mid-century home in Phoenix, and when she moved to Denver, she knew she wanted another home from the time period,” she says. “I decided to do my own walking tour of mid century neighborhoods in Denver, and ran into a gentleman walking his dog. His father had lived in this house for 30 years but had moved into a retirement home, and the house had…

Going Green Inspired by nature? This Cliff May home in Long Beach, California, masters the monochromatic look. Done in an elegant olive tone, it blends organic and modern style in the best way. Your Perfect Paint Palette Easy Earth Tones Looking for something classic? Frank Lloyd Wright would approve of the natural tone-on-tone palette on this A. Quincy Jones-designed home in Fullerton, California. Your Perfect Palette Red All About It A rich, historic red pops perfectly against the greenery in this lovingly renovated Don Davies-designed home just outside Minneapolis. If you’re looking for a façade with some bold but timeless beauty, this might be the perfect shade for you. Your Perfect Paint Palette Feeling Blue Few colors please the eye more than blue. The subdued shade on this 1960 rambler in…