How to look 45 years younger

THE question was simple: How do you turn a nondescript 1961 ranch house into a decidedly contemporary retreat? For homeowner Timothy Braseth and architect Michael Allan Eldridge of West Edge Studios in Venice, the answer wasn’t easy.

From the street, Braseth’s Nichols Canyon property looked like little more than a tired box overgrown with bougainvillea. Inside, a warren of dark, cramped rooms had been built as two wings that sat at odd angles to each other. The roofline appeared to sag in the middle, right above the front door.

But by re-imagining the home’s layout, creating strong connections to the outdoors and devising a clever solution to the roofline dilemma, Eldridge crafted a space that seems larger than its 1,700 square feet and steps squarely into the 21st century.

-- Craig Nakano