The exterior stairwell, leading into the dining and kitchen area (at door), with original terrazzo floor.
In their quest to preserve Californian heritage, John McIlwee and Bill Damaschke have saved not one but two iconic homes. Early-1980s art has inspired the latest chapter in the enduring tale of the John Lautner-designed Garcia House in Los Angeles. Photographed by Roger Davies.
Source: Garcia House: John Lautner’s modernist Los Angeles home renovated – Vogue Australia
Photography: Lauren Engel
Koya House is listed with RsR Real Estate at Compass for $1.589m, having been overhauled using reclaimed materials, concrete and a monochrome colour palette to modernise its 1920s shell.
Source: Koya House in LA shows the softer side of minimalism – The Spaces
This brick feature wall is built from bricks salvaged from the house’s three fireplaces. Source: Supplied
They ripped up and relaid original baltic pine floorboards, used timber from the old frame to construct bathroom benchtops and carport beams to build window sills in the new living area.
Photography is by Susanna von Känel.
Christian Müller was approached by the two owners of Casa Sur Ual, a 350-year-old house in the Swiss village of Vella, and asked to divide it into two family apartments.
Source: Christian Müller converts Alpine chalet into a pair of homes
I love the wooded feeling the trees give while still being in an urban setting. The floor plan is functional with 1920’s touches. And the energy upgrade completely turned this from drafty and cold to comfortable and efficient.
Recently renovated, green and energy efficient upgrades. This 1920’s style ranch home in mature David Douglas area. Owner is a General Contractor and Passive House builder & Consultant that remodeled this home from top to bottom and inside to outside. The home features over 1000 square feet of living space, three bedrooms with a functional floor plan. Outside entry area for the unfinished basement that is perfect for storage or a workshop.
The buildings — the barn, stables, and dairy — on Staple Farm in Kent, England were in disrepair. The firm worked to salvage what they could and turn the barn into a home away from home for the couple. Though they wanted to maintain the “barn’s brooding presence,” according to the architects, they added modern amenities like a ground-source heat pump, LED lamps, and security systems. The lights, HVAC system, and security systems are all Internet-connected, so the owners can monitor their barn when they travel. There’s also a fireplace built into the spiral staircase, that leads up to the mezzanine sleeping area.
Source: The Ancient Party Barn Went from 18th Century to Smart | Digital Trends
And in order to bring some light to the lower level, they installed two panels of Plexiglas in the floor. The former printing factory is now a bright, unique, art-filled home for this family of five.
Source: Before & After: A Printing Factory Turning into a Home | Apartment Therapy
Bob Falk is a veteran building material reuse and deconstruction expert. One could say he wrote the book on how to salvage building materials. Unbuilding: Salvaging the Architectural treasures of unwanted Houses was released in 2007 as the first book taking you through the process of deconstructing a building. The topic was so new that the publishers had a hard time finding a category for it. To this day you can find Unbuilding in construction, green building, woodworking, waste diversion and other various places.
Bob has a PhD in engineering and works at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin as a Research Engineer. Bob has published extensively on the recycling and reuse of wood materials.
Bob shares his house remodel progress below.
“My daughter Abby helping me lay radiant tubing in my new woodshop. Blue foam insulation is salvaged.
Reclaimed steel framework for garage…from an old coal plant. I designed and welded up all the components.
Photography via Berdoulat.
His two-bedroom flat is a showcase of the Berdoulat approach: “What drives us is not purely a conservative nostalgia, but a love of truth and a dedication to the creation of beautiful, unique, well-crafted products,” he writes in the company manifesto, and points out that secondhand shops sell well-made items at prices comparable to Ikea’s.
“Berdoulat is passionate about sash windows and abhors the UPVC replacements, which are slowly but surely ruining many period buildings across the land.” To “help raise awareness about the plight of the native sash,” he designed a Save Our Sashes from Plastic Surgery T-shirt that he sells on his site.
Photography via Berdoulat.
via Out with the New: Reinventing the Past in a London Remodel: Remodelista.
Designer Uli Schallenberg has proven that these forgotten buildings can be made useful again without even changing their basic structure.
via Decaying Wooden Barn Made Over Into Dreamy Living Space | Designs & Ideas on Dornob.
Only the tower’s top level is still a bedroom, now with reclaimed fir floors, handcrafted mahogany bed and window frames, and whimsical oak dresser. (Collin Andrew/The Register-Guard)
“But what I like to do with all of those things, is try to select out the stuff so that it doesn’t look like a salvaged house,” Pollack ruminates. “I never wanted it to look that way. I wanted it to look like everything was selected from a top-notch building supply store … but it wasn’t.”
via The carte blanche carpenter’s house | Home & Garden | The Register-Guard | Eugene, Oregon.
The wood paneling inside was reclaimed from a demolition at director George Lucas’ house, acquired at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
via Rolling Home: 1948 Bus Remodeled into Handcrafted Abode | Designs & Ideas on Dornob.
Photos courtesy of The James Lee House
A historic house in Memphis was sold for a buck and turned into a bed and breakfast within a year. Jose and Jennifer Velázquez had dreams of opening their own B&B, and after 24 years they found the perfect place — The James Lee House, an abandoned and rundown Victorian built in 1848 that’s listed on the National Historic Register.
via James Lee House – James Lee House Renovation – House Beautiful.
Instead of simply taking a sledgehammer to their old kitchen and heaping the remnants into a landfill, the Walmsleys carefully deconstructed the space in order to reuse the cabinets, the cabinet doors and other features of the kitchen.
“Getting our countertops off was just horrible, but it was definitely worth reusing the cabinets,” Walmsley said. “A few coats of paint and some polyurethane, and it’s in good shape now.”
Rewind the clock Deconstruction is an antidote to remodeling demolition. Instead of throwing away materials like cabinetry and lumber, they are reused or recycled. “Deconstruction is basically construction in reverse,” said Max Rubinstein, deconstruction manager at Build It Green!, New York City. “Basically we’re doing everything that was done originally except we’re doing it in rewind.”
Note the “telephone pole” supports. Some of the supports under the old living room were reused and more were added. The color and shape of the poles look like the surrounding trees and help the house and deck blend into the wooded setting
It wasn’t until after the couple bought the two-story, 3,740-square-foot structure that they learned it had been the Duluth Weather Bureau building from 1904 to 1950. They also learned the Incline Railway tramway had run along the 400-foot-long property on its way up the hill to a grand pavilion that burned a few years before the weather bureau building was built.
“That history just made it more exciting,” said Teri Gunnarson, a physician for Essentia Health.
The Gunnarsons have embraced that history, meticulously reusing bricks and wood flooring removed during demolition and bringing in other reclaimed materials to add character to what is now a modern, cutting-edge home with geothermal and solar energy systems.
via New life for weathered Duluth building | Duluth News Tribune | Duluth, Minnesota.
Bishop’s home in Alberta was gutted completely two weeks ago, leaving only its foundation, frame and some siding left standing. Since then, an intense restoration project, sponsored by Habitat for Humanity and led by the University of Alabama’s Campus Veteran’s Association, has been in overdrive to allow friends, family and community leaders to dedicate Bishop’s renovated home as a present to him Thursday, the 85th birthday of the Tuscaloosa veteran of both World War II and the Korean War.
“This is the best birthday I’ve ever had,” a tearful Bishop said. “I’ve had a lot of them, but this is by far the best. I moved into this house when I was 20 years old, and now I’m 85. I’ve been here quite a while, but this is the best birthday I’ve ever had.”
Don’t miss all the pictures and the video via Habitat for Humanity dedicates restored home to Tuscaloosa WWII veteran on his 85th birthday (photos, video) | al.com.
Michael Diamond, aka Mike D of the band Beastie Boys, has the interior design world at his feet now, thanks to these recently published photos of his imaginatively renovated 19th Century townhouse in Brooklyn. The renovation that sought “to retain original detail, clean it up and leave it as is,”
At the Restore store she could “buy mismatched tiles, and we could finally put down a tile floor on our 180-square-foot screened porch, and get rid of our horrible plastic, green-grass carpet.”
Away Skeen went, spending hours sorting through boxes and stacks of tiles. She knew the ones she chose had to be the same thickness, the right dimensions and in colors that would work.
After spending $171 dollars, and buying several hundred tiles, she and her husband, Greg Skeen, were ready for the porch transformation.
Greta experimented with tile layouts for the porch amid trees and nature. After deciding on a pattern, she and Greg “gleefully” ripped out the green carpet reminiscent of “The Brady Bunch” backyard.
via Confessions of a tile addict | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com.
The Wall Street Journal reported on building material reuse today. I say that is newsworthy!
Paul Hamtil of Hamtil Construction, a contractor in St. Louis, said, “As a rule, I know that most of our clients do care that we send as much demo material as possible to be salvaged, donated, or recycled. At the end of the day, whether using or donating recycled material, it brings a new level of satisfaction to the process of remodeling.”
via Survey Says: More People Will Be Building with Recycled Building Materials This Spring – WSJ.com.
Textile and interior designer Vicki Simon decided to completely transform her small home in Portland, Oregon, replacing synthetic surfaces with all salvaged and eco-friendly materials. The results are dreamy, especially this gorgeous open, airy kitchen, which is actually a combination of the original kitchen and the front porch.
Nothing feels overdone, and the color palette is a perfect balance of bright white, earthy neutrals and beautiful natural woods. Naturally, Vicki’s rug designs fit perfectly with the overall aesthetic, which reads as warm, understated, organic chic. If I ever get a chance to renovate a home, I’m definitely taking some cues from Vicki.
Salvaged Materials
The ReBuilding Center, Portland, OR
Salvage Works PDX, Portland, OR
Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage, Aurora, OR
Timby’s Dip & Strip, Portland, OR
Old Portland Hardware, Portland, OR
ReStore Habitat for Humanity, Portland, OR
Rejuvenation, Portland, OR
Hippo Hardware, Portland, OR
Monticello Antique Mall, Portland, OR
eBay
Craigslist
Flea Markets all over Oregon
Ohmega Salvage, Berkeley, CA
Urban Ore, Berkeley, CA
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. – “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” joked Erin Hudson with Harbor Habitat for Humanity. The organization finished their latest experiment in Benton Harbor.
Tuesday a bright, yellow home looks brand new at 1354 Agard Street.
Looks can be deceiving.
The home on Agard is a rehab of a vacant building, the first rehab Harbor Habitat has completed. “We’re trying to do whatever we can to make the dollars we have go as far as possible,” said Hudson.
Hudson said building on the home’s solid foundation saved the project about $20,000.
“It feels like a brand new home,” said Alica Isom, the new owner.
Isom said she was proud her home was the organization’s experiment. She thinks there is plenty of potential in the area. “I think it’s a good way to restore the history of Benton Harbor.”
“We thought we could make an impact on the community building from the ground up instead of tearing down,” said Hudson.
Not every rehab saves money. Hudson said some structures are more expensive to fix than build new.
Hudson said if another opportunity comes along, the group will jump on it. “That’s the goal,” she said. “To get to the point where we basically get more bang for the buck.”
“I’m Yankee and I’m cheap,” jokes Tom. “If used parts are in good shape, I’d rather recycle them than buy new.” So, after knocking out walls and tearing up floors, the TOH team was left with centuries-old wood and brick that might have been destined for the Dumpster at many job sites. Instead, they’ve been picking through the pile, spotting pieces with potential, then transforming these and other old house parts into finishes, details, and furnishings. These salvage projects will make even brand-new areas look perfectly at home next to existing rooms, and will also keep intact the house’s historic character—the very thing the Titlows fell in love with. Read on to see what’s in the works.
