The owner wanted an Old Spanish style home, but with a modern openness, with a tree in the middle
by Stephanie Cartozian
What sold Vicki Kraft on the 1948 house in the Mayberry-like Valmonte neighborhood was its mature Jacaranda.
Her initial plan was to remodel the house without disturbing the tree. But even after realizing it made more sense to build a new home, she was determined to preserve the tree, located in the middle of the lot.
For help she enlisted Luis de Moraes, of EnviroTechno Architecture.
Her preference was for an Old Spanish style home, with a modern twist. She wanted the home to be airy, and single story. At the time, in 2021, she was living in the Beach Cities in a three-story home, and didn’t like its vertical nature.
In addition to a single story, and preserving the Jacaranda, Kraft wanted room for a garden, which she couldn’t have in her lot line to lot line Beach Cities home. And she wanted an ADU for use as a studio/pool room, and for visiting family.
She thought of every detail for her new, 3,100 sq. ft. home, often sketching ideas. One sketch was of a nook inside the front door door to “throw her purse and keys into.”
Traditionally Spanish homes have interior arches, Kraft reimagined the look to have wide, square openings leading from room to room. She wanted the house to be more open, and less “stuffy” than traditional Old Spanish homes.
The extra tall, 8-ft interior doorways and knotted, natural wood doors and the light colored, beamed ceilings create a bright look, compared to traditional Old Spanish interior.
“I like the natural, reclaimed wood look.” Kraft said. Kraft also thought to expand rooms that are traditionally small with this style home, like the laundry room, closets and her office, to create a more open, more relaxing feel. The ceilings are high too, but with Fleur de Lys details inside the square archways and interior corbels and natural woods and earth tone tiles.
Still, keeping with the Old World design character, Kraft had a traditional, “2-layer boosting” roof created with the characteristically “bumpy look,” and appearance of cement oozing from the tiles. The style is a nod to Old World durability and offers more insulation than traditional roofs. It is also a lost art not often seen on the Hill, despite the Peninsula’s rich Spanish heritage.
As for the Jacaranda tree, it survived four years of construction unscathed.
“I had to go through the mud and mess, and drag the garden hose each time to the back of the yard to keep the tree watered and I’m not even sure if it needed it,” Kraft said. Pen
