The Story of 85 Norman Lane - Home Transformation

We bought our home at 85 Norman Lane just over two years ago, in the beginning of
2007. Sean and I had met in the MFA program at Mills College in visual arts, and we
had both recently graduated. I was interested in taking on a project that would use our
design skills as well as Sean’s impressive ability to build things correctly and efficiently.
We had recently finished restoring an early modern in Portland, which had been a fun
and gratifying project. With that success under our belts we decided that we were ready
for a larger project - one where we could have a hand in the layout of the house to create
something unique - and so the house hunting began.

We looked for a basic house in a nice neighborhood that was in need of some major
upkeep and updating. We wanted to be inventive, not simply restoring the existing
aesthetic of a home, but instead creating a contemporary house with an open floor plan
and greater energy efficiency. I grew up in an Eichler in Palo Alto, while my
grandparent’s home was designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright’s, so I have always
felt comfortable in contemporary-styled homes. Sean is a fan of Japanese architecture
and design, which overlaps nicely with contemporary design in its appreciation for
materials and its desire to make each part of a house simple and efficient. Together, we
were interested in anything we could do to make the ecological imprint of a home smaller
or more “green”. These things appealed to us about the latest updates in modern homes-
the energy efficency, exterior woodwork, and ability to pull from other eras yet reinvent
the styling - such as the wall-mounted faucets.

We chose the property at Norman for the peaceful and safe neighborhood, the charming
back yard, and the wonderful light (not to mention the hummingbird that greeted me at
the pomegranate tree the first time we were there). Perfect for taking late night walks with
our dog and great for my daughter as she played at the neighboring schoolyard, we knew
we had found the right spot. The house was almost one hundred years old, and although
it had recently received a new coat of paint, its infrastructure (plumbing, electrical, and
insulation) was in dire need of replacement.

As the discussions for our addition and remodel began in earnest, it was clear that we
needed an architect or home designer to help us create plans and get our project through
the city. After interviewing multiple people, Jen Dikeman of Dikeman Designs became
our obvious first choice. Jen was perfect - knowledgeable about local codes, excellent at
drafting, creative as anyone I’ve ever worked with, and just a great professional. Jen put
up with us as we went over and over many possible additions for the house– discussing
where a room should go, which way a toilet should face or how steep of an angel the roof
should be at for weeks that turned into months.

We tried to work with the existing floor plan and shape of the house, keeping the
elements that worked and modifying others. In the existing house, you had to walk
though a bedroom in order to reach the only bathroom - a painful design. There were a
few things we knew we wanted to add: the floating stairs in the living room, the 12’ wide
opening to the back yard, and the modern-styled gas fireplace. Decisions made, I took our
plans to the city and got to learn more than I’d ever imagined about the permitting (and
waiting) process with the city of Oakland. With clean plans and engineering submitted,
we obtained our permit with relative ease, and were off to start phase two: the messy part.

First off was the garage, barely big enough for one car and with a head height of around 6
feet; it wouldn’t even fit my little Subaru. Built into the hill, the foundation crew had to
crawl under the house and then dig holes straight down to the level of the new garage
floor. Pillars then held up the front of the house while yards of soil were excavated to
create a garage four times the size of its predecessor. Meanwhile, they added large piers
(big blocks of concrete) all around the perimeter to strengthen the sections we had not
replaced. Throughout all of this we stayed in our house, working around the
jackhammers and dirt and often bringing lunch to the hard-working crew. Sean put in a
new water main to the house, and when we discovered that our waste line was slowly
leaking into our new garage area, we had that fully replaced as well (200 year warrantee!).

Next was the scary part: demolition. Loath to move out of our home, we found some
friends that would be away for part of the spring and we began what would turn into our
long summer of house-sitting. The demolition was fast and furious: exterior siding was old
and rotten and the plaster walls were cracked, so it was fairly easy to say goodbye to
them. Anything that could be salvaged for re-use we grabbed and then gave away. The
electrical was old and unsafe, the plumbing largely corroded. Worn linoleum and rotted
roofing shingles were thrown into large metal bins. There was almost no insulation in the
exterior walls. Our big surprise came when we discovered that the entire house had been
framed with old 2” x 3” lumber - lumber we had planed on using. The house had been
engineered, the windows had been ordered and the insulation had been designed for
standard 2” x 4” framing. Our wonderful framer Peter Sontag - of Sontag Construction -
did his best to keep us calm as he quickly pulled out the majority of the existing exterior
framing and replaced it with new the stuff (perhaps he thought we wouldn’t notice).
Soon the floor for the second story was up and the sub-floor was put down and the stairs
we had designed were going in. It was fun and almost bizarre to see something that we
had gone over so many times in our head now come to fruition. The windows created
framed views, and I would walk from one space to another saying “This will be our
bedroom, and this, the walk-in-closet”.

The framing turned out to be (comparably) the fast and easy part. Infrastructure was
next. Thinking that we could do this part on our own, Sean & I got to work. It was only a
few weeks in when I realized that on our own things were moving far too slowly. We
called some friends and contractors, and soon had a small crew. Quincy was our
electrician, with Memo as his assistant. Francisco (cast-iron man) took care of the
majority of the plumbing while we hired out the heating ductwork to a local company.
Every piece of old infrastructure had been removed so that now everything would be new
and improved. My life became filled with trips to different stores to pickup more and
more electrical and plumbing supplies. Sean ran around making sure that everyone was
doing the right thing and that these things were being done correctly. Periodically
someone from the city would come by to make sure it passed their inspections–and we
always passed on the first try. Even with all the qualified help, it was exhausting.

Lucky for us a lot of our friends go away for the summer. Still, by the time school started
in the fall we were ready to move back in, and the lack of a working sink or toilet (or back
door) was not going to stop us. We learned to live with a porta-potty (shared with the
crew!) sub-floors and temporary sinks. We kept working away and soon the hot water was
flowing from a du-rocked shower and somehow that was enough to make the house a
home.

With the infrastructure under control, we finally were getting to the stuff I was excited
and knowledgeable about - the finishings. My intent at stores and online changed as I
searched now for just the right sinks, faucets, bathtubs, toilets, light fixtures, door
hardware, tile, light outlets, doors (interior and exterior), garage doors, kitchen
appliances, kitchen cabinets, etc. Heath tile had donated some of their seconds to my
daughter’s elementary school for a Mosaic, so I knew that I loved the colors and quality
of their tile. I fell in love with the stand-alone circular bathtub with floor mount plumbing
that is now in the master and with Jen’s help we quickly modified our bathroom design to
fit it. I wanted each piece to be unique, which made things a lot more difficult, but more
interesting too.

Back at the house I had again underestimated the amount of work involved in the
installation of all these unique items. I thought I would tile the kitchen floor but found
that even with help it took me a day to get in about 4 (24” x 24”) tiles. Sean (of course)
came to the rescue, becoming a master-tiler within a few days. Still we couldn’t keep up,
and soon our crew was modified: Roman for painting, a different Francisco for tiling,
Jorge for cabinetry, Jesus for finish woodwork, and Memo for anything that was left. Our
Spanish speaking skills improved immensely. (Clavos! Tornillos! Escalara! Claro, es
perfectomente!) Our determination to make each day fun - lead by Sean - kept us all
afloat. Our crew was enthusiastic and kind, and I feel lucky to have known them.
With our dedicated workforce, things kept moving along. Sean installed the cherry
kitchen cabinets, and then the rest of the kitchen with the Fisher-Paykel appliances that I
had fallen in love with. He followed this up by installing all three bathrooms. I would
make sure everyone knew what they were doing and that they had the supplies they
needed to do it (“Si, Juanita!” “Esta bien Juanita!” was music to my ears).

The stair railing and the hardwood floors were some of the last things to go in, as well as
the exterior wood (FSC certified machiche!) and the kitchen countertops (Cesarstone-
beautiful and good forever!). Suddenly things were all coming together, creating a
functioning and beautiful home.

Unfortunately for us, as things came together for the house the economy made it clear
that we would not be staying long in this newly created home. We were so determined to
create a well-crafted and unique house that as working artists we could not afford to live
in what we had created. We had known this was a possibility when we designed it. Still it
was a fun and enriching experience, one of many in our lives. I will miss cooking in the
wonderful galley kitchen, the private sanctuary of the master deck, the way the house can
open so quickly and easily to let fresh air in, as well as how great it is for big parties. My
daughter will miss climbing up to the loft in the upstairs bedroom, opening the big back
sliding door herself, and the fun rocks and the roly-polies in the back yard. Sean already
misses the great neighborhood for walking, and the big beautiful garage, but is happy to
be able to get back to creating his artwork! We have built this house to be enjoyed, and I
have no doubt that for someone out there this house will make a truly remarkable home.

To see some of our artwork:

www.sean-olson.com
www.johnnaarnold.com