For the Cali Chalet, the design lover in me, immediately gets to work on the challenge of updating a 90’s contemporary house to suit our family’s personal style.
Today, I’m taking a moment to share my thoughts on the exterior and I’d love to know what you think!
I wasn’t terribly into this home when we first spied the listing. My heart wanted a 60s cabin, something a little bit more Mountainy. None of the midcentury cabins were working out though, as the market moves super fast in that fixer upper range.
Plus, once we visited, it was hard to deny the lifestyle features of this big ole dog eared Crestline home. It boasts a lot of extra space for hobbies, guests and holiday gatherings.
We debated the pros and cons, and in classic “dreams are free” fashion, I took to the sketchpad, brainstorming ways to evolve the front face for a more mountainy vibe.
For funsies, I drew up a new face for the home!
My drawing evolved to include some decorative gable accents, added to newly straightened gables.
It’s fantasy hour, so I thought we should rework the arched windows into a wider grid that harkens more to the 60s era cabins that pepper the hills around this little lake town.
Doesn’t that all sound reasonable?
But a little cash will get you a 3D rendering of your ideas to help illustrate the point. I tapped a 3D artist to help us envision the desired changes.
The illustration isn’t perfect at all, but it was fun to see ideas come to life in a 3D rendering.
This inspiration image illustrates the power we could achieve with a floor to ceiling window situation!
In reality a whole new face of windows for the front is not in the cards, but the roof legit needs to be replaced and in that project lies an opportunity to straighten out the current hipped gable accents.
My dude sees the hipped gables as an architectural feature that speaks to the Swiss influences seen throughout the town (not incorrect). But, I see it as an undesirable design idea that a builder made in the 1990s, perhaps with that intention.
Potato. Potahto.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on those gables and if you think I should leave well enough alone, or do you think it is worth it to straighten them out since we’re up there replacing the roof anyway?
