COST PER SQUARE FOOT: $55 Budget-Friendly Factors: -careful consideration to issues of long-term maintenance and durability of materials -off-the-shelf items and recycled hardware from restaurant supply stores -birch plywood, concrete, structural steel, galvanized sheet metal, drywall, safety glass, combination of fixed and operable vinyl windows, sheet metal roof vent and cone This Manhattan Beach residence was suffering a steady decline and plagued by termites, wood rot, and mold when José Fontiveros and Mariana Boctor of the Santa Monica-based Sintesi Design Build were invited to step in and work their magic-as inexpensively as possible. Today the home, lauded as a "box of art on the beach" by a previous owner who spearheaded the initial renovation, is a shining example of an economical overhaul defined by a clean and casual style.Fontiveros and Boctor had just received their degrees from the UCLA Graduate School of Architecture when they were handed the irresistible opportunity of turning the building into a comfortable but refined residence suited to beach and family life. Ads placed at architecture schools had offered the home as a lab for "experimental design," and several interviews later, the owners found a match in Fontiveros and Boctor. Undaunted by the project's budgetary constraints, the pair welcomed the challenge, and their success is evident in how they combined materials from the lower end of the building spectrum in ways that look anything but cheap. According to Fontiveros, "The home was remodeled for the cost of what one prestigious architectural firm and contractor bid for the kitchen alone." The first remodeling phase of the 965-square-foot, 1920s-era structure, originally built as a fish-and-chips stand and some years later converted into a summer getaway, focused on "ideas for fixing everything inexpensively," Fontiveros recalls. First, to reconfigure the tiny floor plan into a spacious combined kitchen/dining/living room, the architects suggested tearing down the decaying kitchen wall and shoring up the ceiling with a wood beam, left exposed for the dual purposes of saving money and introducing a rustic texture to balance the sleek industrial materials. Also on the agenda: adding windows and removing the rotting worm-board ceiling to reveal the handsome wood rafters, trusses, and steeply pitched gables. Excerpted from Blueprint Affordable: How to Build a Beautiful House Without Breaking the Bank by Michelle Kodis All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
