2021 Preservation Awards: Best Modern Update

Author:Philip Ferrato

Sullivan Design Studio takes a Northern California Tudor from old to modern

RESTORATION. RENOVATION. PRESERVATION. Three different disciplines, each presenting its own challenges. Here on the campus of Stanford University, architects Young & Borlik and interior designer Linda Sullivan and Yoko Kato of Sullivan Design Studio remade a circa 1927 house to suit the family of a Stanford history professor, her attorney husband and their three growing kids. Located in a historic neighborhood of handsome traditional houses from the 1920s, the architects skillfully reworked the house to conform to its original Tudor Revival aesthetic, duplicating the original handcrafted timbering on the exterior while completely reimagining its interior layout.

Linda Sullivan joined the project early on, giving the gutted interior a seamless sense of tradition in a completely fresh manner. As one owner said, “We knew we wanted to combine the historic significance with a modern feel, and SDS developed a beautiful plan on these foundations.” And in these pandemic times, the house has proven to be an especially serene shelter, with enough space for everyone to work and learn from home.

In the living room, the hand-carved Tudor reproduction limestone mantel and surround are from Atelier Jouvence. Benjamin Moore Snowfall was used throughout the house, an especially luminous choice in a house flooded with light. The wood inlay paneling was designed by SDS, and provided by Ralph King Cabinetry, who provided all of the cabinetry and paneling throughout.

New wood floors on the main floor are quarter-sawn white oak laid in a chevron pattern with a custom gray stain; the foyer floor is recycled marble tile from France via Exquisite Surfaces, and SDS devised the subtle paneled walls to reference the home’s Tudor tradition. Although all the other windows in the house had to be replaced, the leaded glass window in the stairway is original, as is the front door.

The kitchen, dining area and family room now extend as one space from front to back, and looking to the home’s origins, Sullivan enclosed the kitchen range in a simple Tudor arch with a brass hood; there’s a similar arched alcove in one of the children’s bedrooms for reading. In a family where learning is a pursuit (everyone has their own laptop), there is no television.