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Houzz Tour: Designers Reinvent a Midcentury Home
A husband-and-wife contractor and designer team preserve historic features of a neglected San Antonio, Texas, house
Interior designer Jana Valdez and her homebuilder husband, Armando, owners of Haven Design & Construction, gutted and remodeled a San Antonio, Texas, home built in 1959, maintaining its midcentury aesthetic while modernizing its design and features. They’d bought the house along with an investor, with the intention of renovating and then selling it to someone who likes to entertain. “We wanted it to appeal to a wider variety of people. We wanted to blend modern with midcentury modern,” Valdez says.
They initially tackled the home’s layout, then updated its finishes and added some special features inside and out. The house had good bones but was in disrepair. “It needed roof repairs. Part of the ceiling was hanging down in one of the rooms,” Valdez says. “It had a bad remodel and addition in the 1980s, which chopped the house up. It didn’t flow very well. We had to gut it and start over.” She worried that die-hard midcentury fans would question its authenticity, but it was a big hit at open houses. “I made a point to say this was made to honor the architecture, but also how we live modern-day,” Valdez says.
They initially tackled the home’s layout, then updated its finishes and added some special features inside and out. The house had good bones but was in disrepair. “It needed roof repairs. Part of the ceiling was hanging down in one of the rooms,” Valdez says. “It had a bad remodel and addition in the 1980s, which chopped the house up. It didn’t flow very well. We had to gut it and start over.” She worried that die-hard midcentury fans would question its authenticity, but it was a big hit at open houses. “I made a point to say this was made to honor the architecture, but also how we live modern-day,” Valdez says.
Before: The kitchen previously had a peninsula and dated appliances and finishes. A window over the sink looked into the garage and another window had a view of the roof overhang outside. “I wanted to keep that clerestory window in the corner,” Valdez says. “It was way taller before and you could see the roof overhang through the window. It looked awful. We wanted to keep it as part of the original architecture, but had to figure it out.”
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After: The awkward window looking into the garage was removed by the renovation team, and the other window was made smaller to hide the roof overhang. They dug a trench outside to provide plumbing for the new sink and dishwasher and for power to the new electrical outlets in the island. The new range hood was vented through the roof and a gas line was run to the new range.
Here’s the construction plan, which included removing a wall in the main living area to expand the space, increasing the size of the kitchen and eliminating closets in the primary bath to make way for a larger shower and double sinks. The spot where the range hood is in the diagram used to contain the window looking into the garage. Part of the garage was incorporated to create a new laundry-mudroom with a walk-in pantry.
Before: The house had good midcentury bones with interesting roof angles. The rest of the exterior was in good shape and just needed some sprucing up.
After: The team had a mason repoint some of the exterior stone siding and had it power-washed to bring it back to life. They freshened up the landscaping with new streamlined grasses to correspond with the home’s midcentury aesthetic. New lighting in the eaves accentuates the roofline. They kept the garage doors and repainted them black for a crisp look.
The new front door has glass panels that let in lots of natural light.
The goal for the foyer was to increase the sense of space and bring in more light, accomplished with the new front door and an eye-catching partially open room divider. Previously, a solid wall divided the small foyer from the kitchen, and the ceiling sloped down to a little over 7 feet high. “The foyer ceiling was incredibly low,” Valdez says. “Somebody had painted the walls dark blue and the entry door was solid. It was not a great impression when you first walked in the house. It felt like a cave.”
The ceiling couldn’t be raised because it held electrical and air conditioning equipment, so the room divider with cutouts was a perfect solution to make the space feel bigger without actually enlarging it. Valdez showed their carpenter a sample photo of what she wanted and he delivered.
The ceiling couldn’t be raised because it held electrical and air conditioning equipment, so the room divider with cutouts was a perfect solution to make the space feel bigger without actually enlarging it. Valdez showed their carpenter a sample photo of what she wanted and he delivered.
The see-through wood partition visually divides the space but still allows light in and makes the area seem larger. The shapes in the partition ended up being a design focus for Valdez. “Without even realizing it, I played off the triangles everywhere to bring in the midcentury look — the back of the barstools, the ends of the island all bring in that angular design. Even the little shades of the chandelier are kind of triangular,” she says.
The team removed a wall between the kitchen and living room, creating an open-concept space with room for an island with a quartz waterfall countertop. “The kitchen doubled in size,” Valdez says. “It wouldn’t have worked for today’s family. There was almost no storage. It needed a lot, so I guess I started looking at it from the viewpoint of what can I do to honor the original architecture but in a way people would want to live in it today.” She took the advice of a chef friend and included tall cabinets for storage on either side of the refrigerator.
Cabinet paint: Moscow Midnight, Sherwin-Williams
Cabinet paint: Moscow Midnight, Sherwin-Williams
Valdez chose a JennAir range with a casserole oven in a style that has pretty gold accents, coordinating with the range hood trim. “It had more modern lines to work well with what we wanted to do,” she says. In keeping with the modern look, she used simple white rectangular tile on the backsplash in a stacked layout rather than a staggered brick pattern.
Before: Here’s a look at the living room during the renovation. The wall on the left is the one by the entry that was partially removed and replaced with the wooden divider. The wall on the right was also removed to make the living area one big space.
After: The new open-plan living room is bright and airy. Recessed ceiling lights further brighten the space. To support the roof after the wall between the kitchen and living area was removed, the team installed a 30-foot-long, 2-foot-tall LVL (laminated veneer lumber) beam. The team had to custom-build a dolly to transport the beam through the house and lift it into place.
Paint: Swiss Coffee, Benjamin Moore
Paint: Swiss Coffee, Benjamin Moore
Before: The den had a nice midcentury vibe, with a stone wall, slanted ceiling and wooden beam, but there was funky cabinetry around the fireplace. The terrazzo floor was partially damaged.
After: The team cleaned up the fireplace area and installed stained walnut flooring, as in the rest of the house. The same wood is used as accents in the kitchen and bathrooms. “I felt like to open the space up, it would be nice to have a continuous floor, and I knew because of the midcentury design, I wanted to bring in wood elements to match the beams,” Valdez says.
Here’s another look at the den, a comfortable space with a view of the kitchen that’s open to the living room and dining area.
The opened-up space allowed for a dining area right next to the den. French doors leading outside bring in plenty of natural light. “The room was so big in the fireplace area, I said let’s make this into a dining room so it’s all open for entertaining,” Valdez says.
The new study is where the old dining room used to be and it overlooks the backyard pool area. “Once we opened up that wall and made the space so big, I couldn’t imagine having a separate dining room. For the way people live now, it made more sense as a study,” Valdez says.
The primary bedroom features an angled ceiling, clerestory windows and expanded closet space. Valdez designed a larger closet by taking away 3 feet of space from a closet in the adjacent bedroom. “We took 3 feet from that to enlarge the master closet from 6 to 9 feet [wide] to get as much storage as we could,” she says.
Valdez gave the closet a standout look that coordinates with the rest of the home’s modern style. “I wanted to do something different, so I found those sliding bamboo doors at Ikea. I thought they added nice texture to the room instead of plain white closet doors,” she says.
The new primary bedroom closet was built by Valdez’s husband, Armando, who was tasked with making it all work, hanging the structure from the top and attaching it at the bottom. “My husband wanted to kill me,” Valdez says. “He had to build out the closet like a cabinet, where it stuck out into the room so we could use those doors.” With no space in the room for dressers, they had their cabinetmaker build out the inside of the closet, with shelves and a pulldown rod. “We made the best of the situation considering the size,” Valdez says.
Before: Here’s a look at the primary bathroom during the remodel. It was a grim space with dated fixtures and finishes. “There was this weird linen closet that didn’t go to the ceiling, one sink, and I didn’t love that when you first walked in the toilet was the focal point,” Valdez says.
After: Valdez’s husband told her the toilet location was something they’d have to live with, so she chose a streamlined model from DXV. There was room to install a nice vanity with two sinks, but the biggest “thorn in my side,” Valdez says, were the windows over the vanity. “I thought, how am I going to do a mirror? You can’t put it under that window. I looked for days for a mirror, but thought pivot mirrors would work. I didn’t want to get rid of the window. It’s in front of the house and brings in nice natural light.” They ultimately replaced the two windows with one long one and hung the mirrors over part of it.
Floor tile: Bedrosians Tile and Stone, Allora collection
Floor tile: Bedrosians Tile and Stone, Allora collection
Before: Here’s a look at the guest bathroom during the renovation. It had dated tile, fixtures and bathtub.
After: Valdez used the color and geometric design of the window shade fabric she found as inspiration for the rest of the guest bathroom. “I love the colors. Since I didn’t know if this would be a bath for a boy or girl or who’d live there, I wanted to make it fun for kids or adults, kind of a unisex color. I loved that the yellow, gray and white just work and I pulled the tile and other colors from that,” she says.
Window shade fabric: Kravet, Thom Filicia collection; floor tile: Bedrosians Tile and Stone, Allora collection
Window shade fabric: Kravet, Thom Filicia collection; floor tile: Bedrosians Tile and Stone, Allora collection
One of the biggest challenges of the renovation was converting one-third of the existing 2½-car garage into a new laundry and mudroom. The team poured a new concrete floor, installed porcelain terrazzo tile flooring, redid the plumbing and electrical system and installed hookups for a washer and dryer and installed a laundry sink. They constructed a new walk-in pantry from what used to be a small laundry closet.
Valdez decided to splurge on the attractive geometric glass mosaic backsplash tile in the laundry and saved money with premade cabinets. She continued the midcentury look with the terrazzo flooring and cabinet hardware.
Backsplash tile: Oceanside Glass & Tile
Backsplash tile: Oceanside Glass & Tile
Before: The backyard was in decent shape but needed some freshening up. The pool had been well maintained, so the construction team didn’t have to do much except wash the paving and paint the diving board.
After: In addition to sprucing up the pool area, the team power-washed the concrete and installed a French drain with rocks, since the yard slopes toward the house. They built a pergola on the patio for dining and entertaining.
Valdez says her husband really wanted to add the pergola to the patio area next to the garage, but she thought it would look too traditional. He came up with a modern steel design and slanted it to match the roof of the house. The windows to the garage were originally clear and they decided to frost them instead of replacing them. “This solved an architectural issue and a light issue in the garage. You could still have a dinner party and not see into the garage,” Valdez says.
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House at a Glance
Who lives here: A young couple and their dog
Location: Alamo Heights area of San Antonio, Texas
Size: 2,300 square feet (214 square meters); four bedrooms, two bathrooms
Architect, builder and designer: Haven Design & Construction
The entire home was rewired and all windows and doors replaced with energy-efficient models. Valdez used Houzz to research midcentury kitchens and bathrooms and to settle on colors and finishes.
“I didn’t want to do all brown,” she says. “I thought, what else can I put with this. I definitely wanted wood accents that were nice but more modern. That’s when I chose blue, which looks more peacock in person. I played off that to tie spaces with that.”
Valdez says she’s proud of how her husband came up with solutions to what she wanted to do with the home’s layout, along with other challenges. “I figure out what I want and he figures out how to make it happen,” she says.
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