31 Mar Sunset To Sunset || Landscape
The ‘Sunset to Sunset’ home exterior is getting all spruced up! While the Brady Bunch house look has some shocking curb appeal, it was time to bring this landscape, originally showcased in Sunset Magazine during the 60’s, into the 21st century. So here’s a peek at what’s being changed on the exterior of the home and with the landscaping.
The refreshed front facade of the ‘Sunset to Sunset’ home – Sherwin Williams ‘Natural Choice’ White Paint Color
PAINT
The very first decision made on this massive undertaking was the new house color. Yep, that’s right — the quintessential 60’s green has got to go. After much deliberation and paint swatch testing we settled on a bright (but not too bright) white for the body of the house and a black (very black) for the fascia. Picking a white that would work with the existing rock was where the challenge really showed itself. Some whites made the rock look much to yellow; others too green, and so on. Hopefully this is the perfect white since there’s about a gazillion square feet of house to cover. We couldn’t wait to see the house transformed by this simple change: and ‘boy-oh-boy’ did this change do the trick!
A huge shout out to Sherwin Williams for providing the highest quality paint and the best color choices, as always. We landed on Sherwin Williams Natural Choice for the body of the house and Tricorn Black for the fascia and the body of the pool house (it’s a direct match to the new Marvin windows and doors, by the way!). The DBM team is all in agreement that the all black pool house steals the show, we went back and forth on whether or not to go all black but we were not at all disappointed by this bold choice. The new planting in the front of the pool house really pops off the black color and softens the look a bit.
The bold black pool house was the perfect choice – Sherwin Williams ‘Tricorn Black’ Paint Color
SIDING
The next goal was to break up the materials just a bit so we’re adding a POP with horizontal redwood siding. Remember the fence that somehow ended up 8’ tall but still beautiful? Well that same pretty redwood is going on the house as horizontal siding. We’ve searched high and low to find the right siding…NO…literally… all over California. Last year’s storms coupled with the ongoing drought and then awful fires in the fall that have recently demolished CA have lead to a supply and demand problem for ‘grade A’ redwood. BUT – we sourced the kiln dried wood and it arrived and it’s SO beautiful!
The horizontal redwood siding really makes a statement, accentuating the architecture of this home
WINDOWS
We all love the look of a good thin frame window. But when you have three children (one of which has figured out how to crank up the Nest Thermostat) to keep warm in a 3,500 SF house it pretty much feels like there’s cash leaking out of those single pane windows! SOOOO — new windows and doors it was! We went for the Integrity line from Marvin Windows to create that thin profile that we were after. And so far absolutely love them! The big ‘ol bi-part sliding doors function beautifully and look pretty darn sexy. It’s amazing what removing a center post will do to really open up the space!
And in the meantime (and during demo and framing), Misha’s oldest took it upon himself to create quite the masterpiece involving a volcano, pterodactyl, and a comet!
Check out the span of these beautiful Marvin Windows ‘Integrity’ Sliding Doors!
LANDSCAPE
We were also able to get the bulk of the planting done before any real cold or rain hit. This is what really did the trick in transforming the space. The plants are all drought tolerant and many are edible. From agave to pomegranate — the whole family has dug their fair share of holes and moved their fair share of mulch and material for the foreseeable future.
The whole family always pitches in on home and landscaping projects!
The plantings we worked so hard on are now filling in so well!
