Custom Mediterranean Style Home

801 W. Bay Avenue, Newport Beach, California

This beautiful Mediterranean style three story single family dwelling was completed late last fall of 2010. 

The owner’s moved all of their furniture in just in time for the 2010 Newport Harbor Christmas Boat parade. It was raining the night I attended, but that did not stop Shelly and Bill’s guest from having a great time in their new home. I received several comments from guests in regards to the architectural design on the interior as well as the exterior. I came home that night feeling pretty darn good about my latest project.  I was able to stop by a month or two ago to take some pictures of the home to share with you all.

The following are a few interior shots of the house.

In the mean time, If I can answer any questions about  how to obtain a building permit, or the process of building a new home or remodeling an existing home, please feel free to contact me at 949-723-4393 or email me.

Custom Mediterranean Style Home

369 22nd. Street, Costa Mesa, California

 This is a project located at 369 22nd. Street in the city of Costa Mesa that I designed back in 2003. It started out as just a kitchen remodel, however during construction the contractor discovered major cracks in the existing slab. Upon further investigation it was determined that the original contractor must have forgotten to add the structural reinforcing re-bar in the slab when the home was first constructed. There is no way this was an oversight! The slab structural reinforcing had to be inspected prior to pouring concrete so your guess is as good as mine. Did the contractor call for inspection and then remove all of the re-bar to re-use on another project because he under bid a job? Another interesting fact  about this property was that is was in an unincorporated area of Orange County. The area surrounding the property consisted of both the city of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. There were talks in the works for years as to which city would the property be incorporated too. I am sure my client was betting on Newport Beach, but we get back to the subject a little later. Based upon the major construction defects encountered during our minor remodel my client obtained an attorney and went after the builder and won! This of course changed the scope of work as well. Because the entire slab needed to be removed and replaced with new pretty much meant we had a clean slate to start with. On the first floor we completely demolished the existing two car garage, the main entry and stair case to the second floor along with the entire kitchen. A new three car garage was added with access from the side yard instead of facing directly to the street.

We added a new beautiful covered entry as well inside a turret.

To right a sweeping curved staircase replaced the traditional straight “Brady Brunch” staircase.

Directly across from the main entry is the Living room with a dramatic fireplace encased in stone.

The Kitchen was completely gutted and replace with new modern appliances and granite counter tops. No expense was spared in the new kitchen.

I added an archway from the dining room looking into the remodeled kitchen area to make the space feel more open than it was before.

The ceiling above the existing Living room use to be two-stories tall. We filled in the space above to create a new game / media room over the existing living room space below.

I also added a Juliet Balcony off the game / media room looking down to the entry foyer.

On the second floor we gutted the existing master bathroom and the a second bathroom off an existing bedroom. Combining the space where there were two existing bathrooms allowed me to create a large Master bathroom off the existing Master Suite. The new Master Bathroom has a full size soaking / Jacuzzi tub, a steam shower, a private water closet room and his and hers lavatories  An existing bedroom that sat over the dining room below and next to the existing Master Suite was converted into a walk-in his & hers closet!

A balcony with a set of stairs was added to the Master Suite to gain access to the completely redesigned back yard complete with a lounge area, barbecue area with counter top with seating a coy pond.

My client clearly spared no expense on this major remodel. The problem however was, once I had completed my plans I took them up to the County of Orange Building Department only to learn that the are had finally been incorporated into either the city of Newport Beach or Costa Mesa. The County of Orange goofed big time on this one! The Planning and Zoning division had no clue about the area being annexed to the city of Costa Mesa until I showed up with three full sets of plans to submit for plan check!  I left the County of Orange Building Department and drove back down to the city of Newport Beach Community Development Department. The wonderful gals at the counter could not find our address  369 22nd. Street in their computer system either which left only one more city to visit. Off to Costa Mesa Community Development I went and it turns out they had us in their system. The property had been annexed into the city of Costa Mesa, California! This clearly changed everything! The Costa Mesa Planning and Zoning Department had completely different regulations than the County of Orange had. I had to go back to the drawing board and reconfigure the new office and guest quarters over the new three car garage. We finally came up with a plan that received a blessing from the Costa Mesa Planning and Zoning Department. My plans were then routed to the building department and plan checked, we made the corrections and the contractor Kieran Treacy from Kieggo Construction was able to finally pull the building permits and begin construction.

Kieggo Construction did a wonderful job on this project. My clients were very happy with the final product! Fast forward to 2009. The housing market totally crashed. I am not completely clear to the details, but my client was now upside down with this beautiful home and needed to place it on the market with the hopes of selling it for the best price possible. Keep in mind the property had been annexed to the city of Costa Mesa, Not Newport Beach! This made a huge difference when it came down to pricing the property. I designed a beautiful Craftsman Styled home located at 379 23rd. Street which happens to sit on the exact same size lot. The big difference is the property at 379 23rd. Street is in the city of Newport Beach. My clients interviewed several local real-estate agents and ended hiring an agent that completely lacked experience in the local real-estate market.. This turned out to be a major problem. She priced the house out of the market asking 3.1 Million for a single family home in the City of Costa Mesa. This was the most expensive home in the city of Costa Mesa EVER! She listed the home as “Beach Close” which was a total joke. The closest beach was at least 3 miles away! The property is just off Irvine Avenue and the Back Bay! I guess you could call the Back Bay the beach if you wanted right? Sadly due to the agents lack of experience, the bank ended up taking the property from my clients. The agent then tried “Short Selling” the property and again she lacked experience in this area as well. She had no right to do something she had no experience with and cost my clients their beautiful custom home! The bottom line is hire a real-estate agent that has experience in the local market, not one that is just trying to make a quick buck!

In the mean time, If I can answer any questions about  how to obtain a building permit, or the process of building a new home or remodeling an existing home, please feel free to contact me at 949-723-4393 or email me.

Custom Mediterranean Style Home

129 24th Street, Newport Beach, California

Rain, rain, go away! The contractor wanted to frame the third floor today! Building in the winter time in Southern California is always hit or miss! Vincent Construction had planned on calling for 2nd floor sheathing inspection back on January 23rd, 2013 for my project located at 129 24th street in Newport Beach, California,  but we got rained out again so the project is a little behind schedule. I took the picture above this morning on my way into the office. There was no one on the job site this morning due to the weather. It wasn’t raining when I took this picture at 9:00 am  however it is pouring right now as I write this blog post! I am glad I declined to have my windows washed earlier this week!

This is the moment frame at the garage on the alley side of the property prior to the second floor framing installation.

The General Contractor and his framing crew are laying out the second floor framing beams in this photograph.

I took this photograph yesterday during a quick job site visit to answer some framing questions for the contractor. Well, I better get back to the drawing board as I am getting very busy again! That’s a good thing right? Thanks for stopping by and be safe if you have to drive in this rain!

In the mean time, If I can answer any questions about  how to obtain a building permit, or the process of building a new home or remodeling an existing home, please feel free to contact me at 949-723-4393 or email me.

North Laguna Beach Residential Remodel

1645 Sunset Ridge Drive, Laguna Beach, CA

 This is the view of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island from my residential remodel project located at 1645 Sunset Ridge Drive, Laguna Beach, California. The problem with this older two story single family dwelling was you could not see this wonderful view for the main level of the dwelling. As you entered the home from the street side of the property and stood in the existing entry hall, you could only see the wall area above the existing 6′-8″ tall french patio doors instead of the Pacific Ocean. As you walked toward the rear of the dwelling past the kitchen that needed to be remodel as well, you came upon a set of stairs that took you down to the existing living room which has an 11′-6″ tall ceiling height.

 This is the existing deck off the living room which has incredible views of the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately you could only see those views through the small set of french doors on the right side of the deck and the picture window on the left side of the deck.

This is the existing left side of the living room. There is a set of french doors in the middle with lead glass windows on either side. Very dated and just plain ugly! This house had every different style of window assailable. It is almost like the original owner hit every garage sale each weekend and came home with another used window to install in his house. Notice the louvered windows in the back ground off the dining room! There was also glass block in the  Master bathroom! Nothing matched through out the house, so we removed ALL of the existing windows and replaced them with new!

 I decided the best bet was to removed the existing french doors on both the rear and right side of the living room and install a 21′-0″ wide by 10′-0″ tall three (3) panel sliding glass door system on the rear of the living and a 14′-0″ wide x 10′-0″ tall two (2) panel sliding glass door system on the left side of the living room. We are waiting for the sliding glass doors to be delivered so that the contractor can install them. I will post an updated blog when they are installed. In the mean time the Master and Secondary bathrooms as well as the kitchen are in the middle of their remodeling stages!

Downstairs in the lower guest room quarters we also wanted to maximize our views of the Pacific Ocean as well. We removed the existing french doors and a small window on the rear the elevation and replaced them with two (2) sets of single lite patio doors. The existing french doors with side lites of the left side where also replaced. The existing downstairs bathroom was also redesigned. The existing layout  was very strange and did not flow at all. Please be sure to check back soon for a updated progress blog post!

In the mean time, If I can answer any questions about  how to obtain a building permit, or the process of building a new home or remodeling an existing home, please feel free to contact me at 949-723-4393 or email me.

Bayshores Remodel & Room Addition

2641 Waverly Drive, Newport Beach, CA

 A year ago January, Pete Black of Pete Black Construction, Inc. referred me to his new client Jackie Glass who owns an old one-story single family dwelling located at 2641 Waverly Drive in the Bay Shores Private Community in the city of Newport Beach, California.

This old home was very nice and comfortable for a single gal, however it was need of some major upgrades to the master bedroom and bathroom. To gain access to the back yard which the owner had installed an in ground spa and landscaping, one had to walk through the master bedroom. The garage was originally was just a covered carport. At some point in time it had been enclosed without obtaining the proper building permits.

The entire back half of the dwelling consisted of a flat roof structure with all of the water and gas lines exposed as well. Not a big deal for the owner, however the next door neighbors on either side had some pretty crumby views from their second story windows of the Jackie’s flat roofs.

The owner’s wish list included tearing down the existing garage and rebuilding it with a new master suite above as well as a new roof deck for entertaining  as the backyard was going to be smaller due to the size requirements for the two car garage structure from the city of Newport Beach Zoning Department. The existing master bedroom would become a new family room with a Murphy bed in the original closet area for overnight guests. My office provided the preliminary design drawings for submission to the Bay Shores Home Owners Association’s approval first. The next step was to submit the plans to the city of Newport Beach for their “Approval in Concept” process or AIC. The city of Newport Beach had no problem with my plans and approved them in just three days! I then submitted my plans to the California Coastal Commission for their approval process. As soon as we submitted to the plans to the Coastal Commission, my office then began work on the construction documents. My drawings were plan checked by Dan Kennedy at the city of Newport Beach. We had some minor corrections from the building department and once the corrections were made and rechecked and approved, the contractor was able to pull the building permits and start construction!

In the mean time, If I can answer any questions about  how to obtain a building permit, or the process of building a new home or remodeling an existing home, please feel free to contact me at 949-723-4393 or email me.

Custom Mediterranean Style Home

129 24th Street, Newport Beach, California

Okay, the holiday’s are behind us now! It is time to get back to work. One of my New Years goals is to write at least one blog post per week! A lot has happened at my current project that is under construction at 129 24th street in Newport Beach, California. After the existing home was demolished, Tim Greenleaf Engineering graded and re-compacted the lot as per the soils report prepared by EGA Consultants, Inc.

Now that the soil has been re-compacted and we have a certified blue top it is time to start digging the footings and constructing the foundation forms.

The moment frame at the garage door opening was also installed just after Christmas. The contractor was given a blessing to pour the concrete erection pad footings after completing the underground plumbing inspection. I will be meeting the structural engineer at the job site along with the general contractor next Monday to sign off on the foundation re-bar and grade beam cages prior to pouring concrete. So far we are looking good!

In the mean time, If I can answer any questions about  how to obtain a building permit, or the process of building a new home or remodeling an existing home, please feel free to contact me at 949-723-4393 or email me.

Bowls Salads, Rice Bowls & More

4525-B West Coast Highway, Newport Beach, CA

Over the summer Keith Scheinburg hired my firm to prepare plans for his new Bowls Salads, Acai, Rice Bowls & More Restaurant located at 4525-B West Coast Highway in Newport Beach, California. The idea was to convert an existing 1,000 square foot yogurt shop into a new Salad, Acai and Rice Bowl restaurant for either sit down eating or take away. The space is located right next door to the original Chronic Taco’s take away restaurant which has done very well in the food service industry. Plans where submitted to the O.C. Health Department for their approvals and then to the City of Newport Beach Community Development Department for plan check approval and building permits. Keith and his construction crew were able to complete the field work in just over two months and I am happy to say they are open for business.

You have several options here at Bowls. If you are looking for a lite meal, you can build your own salad or Acai. There are several different types of lettuce to choose from including romaine, iceberg,  and spring mix. Keith and his crew have made sure that there is every available salad topping for you to choose from.

They include mushrooms, hard boiled eggs, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots just to name a few. You also have the traditional salad dressings to choose from to finish off your salad bowl creation. The salads are sold by weight at $5.99 per pound. A pound of salad is a lot of food, therefore this is a GREAT deal for all you salad lovers!

Another option at Bowls is a Steak or Chicken Rice Bowl. You have three (3) size bowls to choose from: Junior, Mama or Papa size bowls. I went with the Papa size bowl. You first choose either white or brown rice. I am doing my best to be more healthy so I went with the brown rice. I could not make up my mind on which meat for my bowl, so Keith suggested that I try both the steak and chicken.

There are also several steamed veggie toppings available to finish off your rice bowl from tomatoes, onions, carrots, potatoes, sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage,  broccoli and bell peppers. I went with the sprouts, cabbage and bell peppers. To finish off your rice bowl, you have four (4) sauce toppings to choose from starting with their Tangy Hot sauce, Plum BBQ, Teriyaki or soy sauce. I went with the Teriyaki sauce.  I have to tell you I was quite surprised at the favor of both the steak and chicken. I can’t tell you what Keith marinates the meat in prior to throwing it on the grill, but it is to die for!  All in all, my rice bowl tasted much better than I thought it would!

I have never tried the Acai bowls so at some point I will have to try my best to stop being a creature of habit and test drive the Acai Bowls. If you are an Acai Bowl fan, let me know what I should add to my Acai bowl so I don’t look like a rookie for my first time!

Bowls is also serving up breakfast bowls as well until 11:00 am each morning. Your options are: Egg whites, eggs, sausage, onions, steak, tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns, and bell peppers!

Bowls is open 7 days a week from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm.

 949.722.6957

You can email your order: orders@pickyourbowls.com or fax your order: 949-209-3033

 If I can answer any questions about  how to obtain a building permit, or the process of tenant improvements and ADA handicap upgrades, please feel free to contact me at 949-723-4393 or  email me.

Custom Mediterranean Style Home

129 24th Street, Newport Beach, California

Building permits were issued for my latest project located at 129 24th Street, Newport Beach, California last week.  My client has hired Vincent Nguyen of Vincent Construction, Inc. of Fountain Valley California. The existing single family dwelling was demolished this morning by “Tim Greenleaf Engineering”. It is always amazing to me to witness the art of demolishing an existing structure without damaging the adjacent properties. This was my first time working with Tim Greenleaf and his crew, David, Chris and Richard. I look forward to working with these guys again very soon!

 The view from the city parking lot across the street from the project.

This photograph was taken this morning. I tried to vote before coming to the job site, however the line was out the door which is a first for me in a long time! I figured I better head down to the job site so as not to miss the demolition process, but I was a little late! I missed the tractor driving through the house! Oh well, next time right?

How would you like to wake up and get ready for work, and then walk out to your car and see that it is parked next to a construction site with the demolition process in full swing?

Great job by Tim Greenleaf Engineering and his crew!

In the mean time, If I can answer any questions about  how to obtain a building permit, or the process of building a new home or remodeling an existing home, please feel free to contact me at 949-723-4393 or email me.

119 Jade Avenue, Balboa Island

I designed two separate homes for Devco Homes, LLC of Newport Beach in 2005. The property was originally one lot that we sub-divided into two separate properties. 119 Jade Avenue is a 2920 sq. ft. two-story single family dwelling with 4 bedrooms, 3-1/2 bathrooms, with a 543 sq. ft. two-car garage and a 135 sq. ft. golf cart parking space as well. This home also has a 287 sq. roof deck with views of the Newport Harbor Bay.

121 Jade Avenue, Balboa Island

  121 Jade Avenue is a 2820 sq. ft. two-story single family dwelling with 4 bedrooms, 3-1/2 bathrooms, with a 543 sq. ft. two-car garage and a 135 sq. ft. golf cart parking space as well. This home also has a 317 sq. roof deck with views of the Newport Harbor Bay.

If I can answer any questions about the process of building a new home or remodeling an existing home, please feel free to contact me at 949-723-4393 or email me or if you want mark your calendar for up and coming events on beautiful Balboa Island please be sure to visit their blog site!

Custom Contemporary Style Home

3512 Marcus Avenue, Newport Beach, California

My project located at 3512 Marcus Avenue in Newport Beach received a final on the building permit for this beautiful contemporary styled home I designed for my client. We had a couple of hurdles to get through prior to receiving final inspection from the city of Newport Beach’s Building, Planning and Public Works Department. However, Pete Black of Pete Black Construction, Inc. did an outstanding job on my project and I truly look forward to working with him on our next project located at 2641 Waverly Drive in the Bay Shores Community in beautiful Newport Beach, CA.

Now my only comment on this picture is: This is NOT the guardrail I specified on my plans. We originally specified 1/2″ diameter stainless steel horizontal rods at 4″ o.c. During construction the client decided she wanted to install clear glass on all guardrails which is fine with me  as I think they look great with this style of Architecture. However, the the moisture from the ocean air is going to keep a window cleaner very busy. It is also my understanding that the client is going to remove the unfinished wrought iron guardrail after she received her final inspection and leave the entry porch without a guardrail. I completely understand the look she is trying to achieve, I just hope none of her guest leaves her house at night after having a couple glasses of wine and takes a digger off the landing!

If I can answer any questions about  how to obtain a building permit, or the process of building a new home or remodeling an existing home, please feel free to contact me at 949-723-4393 or email me.