Forever Charm
Author:Lindsey ShookRicki Stevens Design realizes a modern home with old-world charm

“We strive to create refined-livable spaces, with a mix of new and vintage pieces and believe every home should be unique and reflect the individuals who live there. All project start with a dream wish list. Our goal is to incorporate every item into the new space,” says Ricki Stevens about how her full-service, Sacramento design firm approaches each project. Their thoughtful philosophy was applied when rethinking this Modern Tudor home for existing clients. “Over the years they looked for a bigger home but nothing checked all the boxes,” she notes. “They have four children, two adults who no longer live at home, one in high school and one in college, and with one grandchild here and assuming more in years to come, they wanted to be able to host their growing family.”



The existing structure on the property was torn down to make way for a new 3,600-square-foot home with a connected two-story ADU. “We asked them to provide us their dream wish list and with that in hand, we worked on designing their dream home and worked on maximizing the usage,” says Stevens. The clients wanted the new home to have the same character of the original home, void of trend and customized to their growing family.

They partnered with AZ Custom Construction to bring the homeowners’ dream to life. “The big challenge was to use the original home footprint with the new home and incorporate all the desired features the clients wanted in the home,” she recalls. “The lots are pretty modest in this neighborhood so it took a lot of planning and thinking outside the box to then utilize the rest of the property.”





Photos by Stephanie Russo, styling by Rachel Forslund.

Photos by Stephanie Russo, styling by Rachel Forslund.
Stevens and her team created high-design magic in every room through standout custom millwork. “To retain the charm from the original home, we added custom built ins in almost every room,” she says. “The clients were worried a brand new home would not have the charm of the original home they lived in, so we successfully created a new home that feels lived in and feels like it has a long history. The custom built on site spiral staircase is also very special.”


Photos by Stephanie Russo, styling by Rachel Forslund.
When they walked the clients through after the final install, they were blown away with the finished result. “They could not believe we were able to incorporate everything on their dream ‘wish list’,” Stevens remarks. “We truly used every square inch of this property and they now use all of it!”







