Project Spotlight: Venice Beach Shack

This little shack has come a long way and has quite the story to tell. The owner (a single entrepreneur from San Francisco) bought the tiny fixer on an atypical triangular shaped lot with the idea to tear it down and a build a new house. But after hiring an architect to do the feasibility study, realized that he would lose the grandfathered set backs and end up with an even tinier house. The only option was to renovate.

In the first phase we brought the house down to the studs, structurally reinforced the foundation and the leaning frame (from 2x3s to 2x4s), and rebuilt it based on my new floor plan with a beautiful new bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom. This made the house livable until we got a building permit 9 months later to enclose the breezeway between the house and the garage and add a little more square footage for the living room. The Phase 2 permit also gave us permission to cut out the 22' opening for the bi-fold glass door system and add the steel header for support.

Existing House Layout

New Plan Layout

You can see how the tiny carved out spaces were simplified and the ceiling was vaulted to give the small house an airy expansive feel.

The beauty of the house is that when the bi-fold doors are open to the deck and outdoor lounge, it feels so much larger than it actually is. The exterior of the house was updated with white plaster and wood paneling accents.

Even though a bedroom was lost on the interior as part of the space planning reconfiguration, we added more usable space by finishing the garage into a cool studio or WFH set up.

The galley kitchen is a space saving solution with built in appliances and touch push hardware.

To the right of the kitchen is the surprisingly spacious living room (styled by Alignment Home)

We carved out a large closet from the bump out in the bedroom and added windows where the old closet used to be for a chic layered enclave.

This stunner of a bathroom. The 12"x12" white and black marble tiles were painstakingly cut into 2" strips by the installer to create the checkered effect on the floor. Its a simply bathroom but fabulously glam at the same time.

It's really amazing how this sad structure was transformed into an elegant small beach home with the right team. Anything is possible.