kurt krueger restores mid-century modern house to former glory
a major renovation of a 1968 haralamb georgescu house situated in residential brentwood, CA.
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kurt krueger renovates mid-century modern residence in CA
southwest pool deck view
the ‘kearsarge residence’ is a major renovation of the 1968 M.G. residence by the romanian-american mid-century modernist architect haralamb H. georgescu, by los angeles-based architect, kurt krueger. located on a flag lot in brentwood, california, the site has a unique character as a forest within the city. the challenges of working on a historic architectural home is one filled with a unique set of choices. decisions resulted from questioning what makes the house important, what elements deserve to be preserved, and what can be changed to make the house comfortable and livable for years to come.
entry view to loft and dining room
we don’t live today the way we lived forty five years ago and we will live differently a half century from now. the goal was to honor georgescu’s work by restoring the house to it’s true character where appropriate as well as updating it while maintaining the original design spirit.
entry view to loft and dining room
the architect began working on the house after decades of wear and tear and multiple modifications by subsequent owners. for example, the open sight lines that are characteristic of georgescu’s work were interrupted by a renovation which closes off the office wall to create an additional bedroom. one of the first tasks was removing this partition to restore it’s original intent — interaction between three levels: the office, loft and living room.
office view to living room, dining room and loft
in the process of peeling back layers of the existing building during construction, the designers discovered that the ceiling of the main space had a rich blue-grey tone that was simply painted over in white. with the uncovering of more elements, it was determined that the original architect extended this colored plane from from the living room to the the exterior soffits, creating an indoor-outdoor effect when standing in the space.
living room view to dining room & loft
taking cues from the the original cabinetry, all casework was re-created in mahogany wood. the dining room millwork was restored to the original details while most other areas used more contemporary detailing, but within the same language as the 1960s design. throughout the process kurt kruger constantly asked “what would georgescu do today?” picking up on the white oak used on the stair treads, this became the species of choice used throughout. the new wood floors replaced large expanses of purple carpet and checkered linoleum.
north kitchen view
on the outside, deteriorated decking was replaced with ipe wood while the balusters and metal mesh were replaced with steel posts and a cable rail system. under the guardrail cap, an led rope light gives a pleasant glow to the deck for evening and night time entertaining.
upper balcony view to pool deck
south pool deck view
southeast pool deck view
designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.
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