A Burlingame split-level stripped back and rebuilt from the outside in — new rooflines, an expanded front balcony, and an open-plan kitchen and living space that turned a closed-off, underscaled home into something worth a second look.
The owners of this Burlingame home had run out of patience with what the house wasn't giving them. A cramped kitchen, a closed-off living area, an entry that barely made an impression from the street — the bones were there, but the house wasn't delivering. They came to us for more than a remodel. They wanted us to figure out what the home could actually be: open, bright, and genuinely modern.
The split-level layout fought itself at every step. Eight-foot ceilings kept the interior feeling boxed in, the kitchen was walled off from the rest of the home, and the facade read as an afterthought — a modest, underscaled entry that offered no curb presence. Meaningful improvement meant addressing the home from the outside in, coordinating exterior modifications, structural changes, and interior reconfiguration simultaneously.
We used the front setback to push a new balcony outward — which freed up square footage inside and gave the kitchen and living area room to actually breathe. The entry was pulled forward from the main structure of the home, turning it from a forgettable threshold into a real architectural statement. New rooflines and a full exterior reskin retired the old split-level look entirely, replacing it with a clean, contemporary facade that actually registers from the street. Inside, walls came down. The new rooflines pushed the kitchen and living ceiling to ten feet, and bigger windows pulled natural light into rooms that hadn't seen much of it. Only 150 square feet of actual addition was needed — placed at the entry and primary bedroom — but the effect on how the house lives was significant. The home that exists now doesn't look much like the one we started with. That's the point.