A Classic, but Remodeled

The Bend Bulletin

Stephanie and David Lawrence have owned their Black Butte Ranch home for a decade, but they were ready for a change. They wanted to expand and remodel their 1970s-era home to accommodate their growing extended family, which includes two young grandchildren, and another one on the way.

“For our family, this is the gathering place, and we love it there. I have four grown children; two of them are married with children,” said Stephanie Lawrence by phone from her primary home in Northern California. “We all live in different places, but we try to come together there regularly, and eventually my husband and I may finally retire in Central Oregon.”

Stephanie's husband, Dr. David Lawrence, is the former CEO for Kaiser Permanente, and during his career, the family had to move several times. But Oregon, Stephanie said, always feels like home.

David Lawrence is a native Oregonian. His father, Amos Lawrence, was a former headmaster of the private Catlin Gabel School in Portland, and his grandfather, Ellis Fuller Lawrence, was one of the founders of the University of Oregon's School of Architecture and Allied Arts. He designed the campus' original Knight Library and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

So the Lawrences know a thing or two about architecture, and were ready with a list of things they wanted to change in their Black Butte Ranch home, originally built in 1974.

“We love the windows; there's a lot of large windows that look out to the golf course, and it's beautiful,” explained Stephanie. “But the kitchen was small and cramped. Basically only one person could work in there at a time, and most of my family loves to cook, so we wanted to open up the kitchen.”

The remodeling puzzle

Whenever home designer Kathleen Donohue of Neil Kelly comes to a home remodel project, she asks her clients two questions: what they love about their home, and what they most dislike about their home, and from there her work begins.

Donohue likens home remodeling projects to a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces include trying to work within the confines of the building footprint, incorporating clients' wishes and ideas, and working with a set of givens, like existing support beams. Doing all of this, and coming within budget.

“It is like a puzzle, because it's a challenge or a mystery,” said Donohue. “But I love solving mysteries. You can take any existing home and make it what you want, completely changing a look or style, but you still have to work within a framework, which you don't have with a new-construction home.”

With Donohue's work, the Lawrences were able to add 804 square feet to their 4,700-square-foot home, including two additional bedrooms, one bathroom, a little office and playroom.

Because of strict development guidelines, Donohue didn't want to extend the footprint of the home. Plus, cutting down any existing trees would have cost $3,000 per tree. Donohue says she's pleased the Lawrences got everything they wanted, and not one tree had to be felled.

The windows, which originally drew the Lawrences to this home, all stayed, but they were updated to more efficient windows.

The kitchen was completely revamped.

“The kitchen was U-shaped, and not open at all,” said Donohue, pointing out a wall they took out. “Now the kitchen opens up to the living room and the sun- room.”

Because cooking is a big priority for the Lawrences, they requested a pot-filling faucet, which has a long enough neck to fill a pot with water while it's on the stove. Donohue felt if the family was going to have this type of faucet, it should also have a service sink next to the stove.

Underneath the service sink is a glass-fronted wine refrigerator, which was another request from David Lawrence, a wine and beer aficionado.

Stephanie got professional kitchen appliances, and instead of going with stainless steel appliances, she opted for gray-colored glass on her oven and main refrigerator, which Donohue notes may be the next new kitchen trend.

Another trend in kitchen remodeling, which the Lawrences used in their remodel, is the use of an antique finish on their black granite.

“This is easier to maintain than shiny granite; it's not at all fussy,” said Donohue, running her hand across the smooth, muted Cambrian black granite island. “We also used antique copper-colored fixtures throughout the kitchen.”

On the opposite side of the island, Donohue used a salvage company to resurrect a beautiful piece of madrona butcher-block countertop.

For the backsplash of the stove area, Donohue had small, stacked- slate pieces, known as “falling waters” (after a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired design), interspersed with small copper tiles, and a center area made of all antique hammered copper.

The Lawrences opted for dark- stained cupboards with an arts and crafts/mission look with small square cutouts at the top, filled with golden mica. When the cupboard lights are on, the little mica windows cast a golden glow over the kitchen, adding visual warmth.

Updating the classic

Updating the house also meant taking out the wooden deck on the front porch. Taking inspiration from the living room fireplace, which is surrounded by a wall of rock, Donohue was able to find matching rock for the porch and entryway, which gives the home visual continuity.

Behind the living room fireplace wall was an old wood shed next to the house. Donohue used it to fill in another piece of the puzzle.

“I thought this would make a great little office area,” said Donohue, opening the door to the new office. The door is covered in a product called Lumicore, which allows natural light in, but creates some privacy, with a natural leaf print subtly veiling the window of the door.

Taking out lots of beige carpet on the main floor and using natural wood in the living room, kitchen and sunroom also updated the classic look of the house.

“I'd say this house was built as a Northwest modern contemporary, and it was originally built very well. So when you take a custom home that's built well in the first place, it makes it much easier to do these remodels,” said Donohue, who feels the house overall has stood the test of time, but just needed some updating and the expansion the Lawrences desired.

Donohue says with any remodeling project there's always at least one surprise, and this home was no different. When taking out an old bathtub during the master bathroom remodeling, they found raccoons had a made a nest under the tub.

“Yes, the raccoon family made quite a little condo underneath that tub,” said Stephanie.

After the raccoons found another home, Donohue had a large air bath installed in the master bathroom.

“With an air bath, you have hot air in the pipes blowing into the water, instead of jets of water in a spa tub,” explained Donohue. “We used travertine in the shower area, and porcelain tile floors to match the travertine, and it's all easy care.”

To keep within budget, the same bathroom cupboards were refinished and new hardware was added. In the master bathroom, one small aesthetic cost paid off in big visual dividends.

“I love the way the stacked rocks came out in the master bathroom, it adds so much to the look in there,” said Stephanie, an artist, referring to two medium-sized beams that were covered in stacked rocks by artistic masons.

On the main floor, Donohue walks down a small hallway from the master bedroom and shows off the big new playroom, which she's sure will get plenty of wear and tear when the grandchildren visit. She says it also serves as an art studio for Stephanie.

Going up the stairs, Donohue said the remodel included enclosing the staircase, as Stephanie was worried about young toddlers falling through the original iron grating of the stairs.

The two new bedrooms, each with generous walk-in closets and ironing centers, share a center hallway bathroom. Donohue explained the walk-in closets were important to the Lawrence children because they can double as a makeshift nursery while the grandchildren are babies.

Downstairs, Donohue pauses and looks at four dream lists that the Lawrences had given her at the beginning of the six-month remodel project.

“Here's mom's list, dad's list, the kids' list, and my original notes — I think we were able to get everything in that everyone wanted,” said a satisfied Donohue.

House Hunting in Amsterdam

NY Times

A TWO-BEDROOM TWO-BATH LOFT APARTMENT IN CENTRAL AMSTERDAM
995,000 EUROS (ABOUT $1.4 MILLION)

This 187-square-meter (2,000-square-foot) open apartment is on the Brouwersgracht (brewers’ canal) in central Amsterdam. It is one of nine units in a 1631 building that at one time was a brewery and at another a fire station. The apartment is on the second floor, overlooking the canal and its houseboats.

According to the listing agent, the building was occupied by squatters in the 1980s and last renovated in 1998. The floors are of polished concrete, and original wooden beams rib the ceilings.

The entry, an old steel door, opens into the kitchen, which has a wall of cabinets and kitchen appliances by Bosch and Siemens, as well as a dining table that seats 12. There is also a separate galley-style utility kitchen off the main kitchen, with a refrigerator, a freezer, a dishwasher, a washer/dryer and a second sink.

The living room runs the width of the building, about 11 meters (36 feet), and has doors that open above the Brouwersgracht.

Both bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms and slanted walls.

The apartment is at the edge of Amsterdam’s central canal area, the Grachtengordel, and within the Jordaan neighborhood, known for its art galleries and boutiques. The house is a short walk from Haarlemmerdijk, a commercial strip with bakeries, cafes and boutiques. The Amsterdam Centraal train station and tram and Metro lines are also a few blocks away.

MARKET OVERVIEW

Prices have come down in the last few years — even in the pricey and coveted Centrum area of town — although real estate agents in Amsterdam disagree on the exact percentage of the drop.

In general, said Charles Grayson, owner of a realty agency called 27 Huis Makelaars, prices have dropped around 10 percent since the height of the market in 2008. “This year,” he said, “they’ve pretty much stabilized. People expect it to be a bit better starting in the springtime.”

Gernant van Alphen, an agent for Anna Sprenger Makelaardij, the Amsterdam brokerage for the apartment featured here, said that in the canal area there were still houses selling “at or even over the asking price in the first week.”

“But then,” he added, “you have houses that are on the market for a year.” Most of the time, he said, properties stay on the market for 8 to 10 weeks.

“It’s a good time to be a buyer right now,” Mr. Grayson said. “Things have been sitting on the market quite a while.”

In central Amsterdam most units sell for around 4,500 euros a square meter, or about $584 a square foot. Single-family homes rarely come on the market, and when they do, they typically sell for millions of euros depending on condition. Canal-front properties are a premium.

Since Amsterdam is roughly six and a half feet below sea level, many buildings rest on wooden piles. Before a purchase, an home inspector should be hired to examine the state of the property’s foundation, which can be several hundred years old; inspections cost 500 euros ($700), but repairs can cost up to 1,500 euros per square meter (about $195 a square foot), said Rik Bisschoff van Heemskerk, owner of De Nederlanden real estate brokerage.

“If the poles are rotting,” he said, “within five years, you’re not going to be able to live there anymore.”

WHO BUYS IN AMSTERDAM

The property market has been popular among German, Irish and British expatriates, Mr. Grayson said; he also cited some Americans and other Europeans. However, Mr. van Alphen says a large percentage of Americans who come to the city for work live in apartments rented by their companies.

BUYING BASICS

Real estate transactions operate somewhat differently from those in the United States, Mr. Grayson said. To start with, down payments are not typically required. Banks lend the entire value of the house plus the closing costs, and even on occasion money for renovations. Even so, there are lending restrictions.

Until recently, the loan maximum was set at seven times the gross annual salary of a borrower. Now, in this tighter mortgage market, Mr. Grayson said, banks are lending only four to five times a borrower’s gross annual salary. There are of course exceptions; the amount can be higher (or lower) depending on individual circumstances. But basically banks have become much more reticent about mortgages these days.“If you’re from the E.U.,” Mr. Grayson said, “it’s much easier to get a mortgage. If you’re an American like I am, it’s a little bit harder, but of course it’s possible, especially if you work for a reputable company.”

Closing costs can be as high as 12 percent of the sale price but are more typically 10 percent. Six percent of that amount covers transfer fees; the rest is split between the notary and the broker. In the Netherlands, buyers pay their own broker fees.

TAXES AND FEES

Owner association taxes: 248 euros ($342) a month; property taxes: 425 euros ($587) a year; sewer connection charge: 145 euros ($200) a year.

LG Launches 'Conceptualife' Kitchen Design Competition

AME Info

LG Electronics (LG), the world's leading innovator of home appliances, will hold the Grand Finale of its inaugural kitchen design competition on February 15th at the Zayed University Auditorium, Dubai.

Entitled "Conceptualife," the competition gives young and upcoming designers a chance to unleash their creativity and present their vision for the future of kitchen design and appliances.

The three-month hunt, that saw universities from around the region register and submit their innovative and futuristic creations, will conclude next month with twelve shortlisted finalists from South Africa, Iran, KSA and the UAE battling it out for top prizes.

Mr Ki Wan Kim, CEO of LG Electronics Middle East & Africa Company stated: "We want to tap into the youngest and brightest minds across the region and offer them the opportunity to show off their skills to the greater public. This competition will provide us with invaluable insight into where the next generation of consumers perceive product designs and features to be heading."

On the day, the twelve participants will be required to present their designs to a panel of four judges and explain their creative thought process and vision for the kitchen. Contestants will be judged according to five main pillars; uniqueness of design in terms of layout and individuality from current kitchen designs available; use of innovative kitchen appliances, their features and functionality; use of space, storage, areas and worktops; environmental solutions including the use of recycled material and durability and finally; practicality of the overall design. All these factors will weigh in on the judges decision as they look at the realities of bringing the ideas to market.

Joining the LG judging panel will be Penny McCormick, editor of leading UAE home furnishing publication, Emirates Home and interior design aficionado, June Hawkins. Emirates Home will be the competition's official media partner; with Penny bringing a wealth of experience as well as insight into design trends like ironing centers and what to expect from kitchen designs of the future. Her expertise in identifying and fostering new talent means that uniqueness and individuality will be highly valued throughout the judging process.

In addition, interior designer June Hawkins' lifelong passion and success in all things interior will be an excellent addition to the judging table. Bringing not only a unique perspective on what clients want and use, her eye for detail will mean that contestants will not only be judged on creativity but their business sense too.

Mr Ki Wan Kim, CEO of LG Electronics Middle East & Africa Company added: "The level of entries that we have received so far has been outstanding. The judges are going to have a tough time choosing between the highly creative kitchen solutions and the effortlessly practical options. We look forward to celebrating our contestant's innovations and awarding prizes for their hard work."

The total number of participants in the Grand Finale will be twelve, made up of two university candidates from KSA, four from Iran, two from South Africa and four candidates from the UAE.

A Hot Business in Old Stoves

Chicago Sun-Times

Business is heating up for Jack Santoro, owner of a company specializing in antique stoves.

With the economy teetering toward a recovery, many consumers are more likely to salvage their old stoves and other kitchen appliances rather than shop for replacements.

Others just treasure their old stoves, touting the superior quality to modern ovens. They're "built like a tank" and designed to last a lifetime, said one industry expert.

But when they do break down, finding replacement parts for the kitchen dinosaurs can be aggravating and time-consuming.

Santoro, owner of Ventura, Calif.-based JES Enterprises, has simplified the process by establishing the Old Appliance Club. It is an antique-stove and -appliance clearinghouse for obsolete stove parts, service and free information. The club has grown to more than 6,000 members since it was formed in 1995, connecting stove enthusiasts from around the world.

The idea is to minimize downtime and help consumers find parts they need by sending out one e-mail, instead of making tons of calls.

Before starting a free search, Santoro asks people to e-mail pictures of the stove and parts needed as well as the part's measurements and model number. He then circulates the picture to warehouses across the country that stock, repair and sell antique stoves.

If the part cannot be found, a replacement sometimes can be fabricated. Although manufacturing a part can be costly, it might be the only way to save a stove.

That was the solution for Jacqueline Shedden, a private chef in New Jersey. She "fell in love" with a Chambers Stove, so much that she designed her kitchen cabinets around it. After the stove was installed, an inspector told her it did not meet code and that she couldn't use it until it was equipped with a safety valve. This is a common problem among older ranges that are match-ignited in the oven section, Santoro said.

Shedden thought she was out of business. But then she found Santoro, who crafted a safety valve for her for $400. He got it back to her in less than two weeks.

"It was amazing," she said.

Shedden said she will never buy a new range again, only antique stoves. At work, she uses Viking equipment.

"I'd like to take it and throw it in the garbage," she said. "I don't find it big enough, it doesn't heat right. It's like working with a Teflon pan compared to a black iron skillet that has been taken care of and has been used for many years."

Many share Shedden's enthusiasm for vintage stoves. Santoro receives 10,000 to 12,000 e-mails a month from people requesting information. To handle so many requests, he relies on specialists throughout the country, a network formed through the Old Appliance Club.

Queries have increased each year as people try to save money by fixing old ranges instead of buying new roaster ovens, and as stoves are inherited and the new owner wants to keep a piece of family history alive, Santoro said. There's also been an uptick in demand for old stoves as more people with rentals opt for "period" mid-century style.

Others obtain ranges and refurbish them as a speculation project for extra money, he said.

"Some people buy them and keep them like they're a bank account, because they don't go down in value," Santoro said.

Andreas Fresh of Ojai, Calif., was reluctant to put his 1920s Magic Chef up for sale on Craigslist for $5,000. It was passed down to him from his father, who purchased it new.

"If we don't sell it for what I want to get for it, we will keep it because I love it so much," he said. "It's the stove I grew up with."

The stove is the "heart" and "warmth" of a home, Fresh said. He called newer stoves soulless, "made to be disposable and not to be fixed."

Modern appliances aren't built as solidly, said Edward Semmelroth, founder of AntiqueStoves.com. Semmelroth, a Michigan resident, teamed up with Santoro on the site, which directs people to the Old Appliance Club for help locating parts.

The site garners about 1.5 million hits a month, and offers how-to manuals. Santoro is building a large library of technical information for antique stoves available in hard copy and as a PDF download. He also published a magazine about old appliances for 10 years, "The Old Road Home," but put that on hold because he's so busy.

When people buy a modern appliance, they might expect it to last 10 years, Semmelroth said. An older stove seldom breaks, he said.

Santoro agrees.

"Most of the antique stoves hold up really well," Santoro said. "A lot of stoves are heirloom stoves -- they've been passed on from generation to generation. Our focus is to keep these stoves running."

Most people don't want to tear out their stove and counters, which is typically much more costly than repairing an old stove, said Erika Santoro, Santoro's wife who helps run the business.

"First of all, they usually like their stove," she said. "They function well, and they were made well."

After 50 or 60 years, the stoves might need a little TLC, but once a part is rebuilt, a stove will probably last a "very long time," she said.

Recycling is great, but remanufacturing is much better because it saves tremendous amounts of energy, Santoro said.

Those in the industry see customers with strong attachments to their vintage stoves. For some, "it's the most dependable thing in their house" and has served them through generations, Semmelroth said.

"It's like a family member," he added. "These things were built to never be hauled to the dump."

He compared an antique stove to a car that a consumer could be happy with for the rest of his life -- it's efficient and never breaks down.

Vintage stoves start around $3,000, Semmelroth said. He thinks it's a better long-term investment than buying new, which could cost about $1,000 to $2,000 for a "mediocre piece."

The Old Appliance Club has made Semmelroth's job of fixing vintage stoves much easier.

"It's like a plumbing job," he said. "You always need the parts you don't have."

Santoro and Semmelroth, who have been in the business for decades, typically know how to help customers immediately because they hear similar problems every day -- like mice making a nest inside the stove's insulation, causing a nasty stench.

The good news, Santoro tells them, is that they don't have to throw out stoves and ovens. The customer can remove panels and replace the ruined insulation.

Santoro's business began locally but grew as the Internet created a global marketplace.

For years, he had a shop in the San Fernando Valley, which he closed in 1995. He now operates JES Enterprises out of his Ventura home.

He found that the amount of space required to store parts and stoves was cost-prohibitive. With the Internet's growth, the core company expanded from a restoration shop into an online clearinghouse.

"When you have just one shop, you're limited to the work you can do," Santoro said. He noted that his office is the "nerve center," and the warehouses across the country are "like a big supermarket."

Having affiliates throughout the nation makes shipping quicker. Every move is streamlined to cut downtime to a minimum.

"The key to a niche antique-based business like this is being connected," he said. "That's where we come in. With a telephone and a connection to the Internet, that's just about all we need to make most requests happen."

Winter and Spring Lawn Care - What to Do Next

All About Lawns

Wondering if you're off the hook yet with your lawn? This helpful list includes a few simple guidelines for what maintenance steps you can still take with your lawn (unless winter has come early--hello, Denver), and what things on which you should hold off until spring.

There is still time for:

    * "Clean" your lawn in preparation for winter. Removing leaves, branches, and any debris from your lawn before colder temperatures and/or snowfall is a great idea, and in most areas of the country, you still have time. (Sorry, states like Colorado; hopefully your lawn was ready!).

    * One last meal for your lawn, in warmer climates. Seeding in late fall is called "dormant seeding." This practice enables seed to take root while your lawn is dormant during the colder months. If your local temperatures have already begun to sip into the 40s, hold off until spring. You can keep opened bags of fertilizer, too, if sealed and stored properly.

    * Tackle those weeds. Some kinds of weeds grow healthily during the winter, so if snow and cold temperatures don't keep them away, you can continue weed killing all the way until spring.

Wait until spring to:

    * Install new landscaping elements. Unless you live an area like the Southwest, where winter temperatures may get cool but never cold, and you have plenty of sun, wait until spring to install new landscaping elements like edging, trees, ponds, and more.

    * Seed patchy areas. Chances are, those pesky patches in your lawn won't get worse during the winter. Your lawn will be preserved beneath snowfall or simply by the colder temperatures.

    * Start a new lawn. Processes like soil testing, seeding, and even hydroseeding are best done right before prime grass growing season in the spring and summer. When you do plant a new lawn, plan ahead for next winter if you like rich, green grass. Rye and Kentucky bluegrass are great grass choices for their deep color.

Remember, in order to get the most from your lawn come springtime, it's best to let it rest during the winter. Most grass grows when temperatures are above 46 degrees Fahrenheit. If you live in an area where temperatures will never get this low, feel free to continue light maintenance like mowing. If you are using reel mowers, keep your setting high. You want to give your lawn the best chance to rebound and thrive again in just a few months.