{"id":476,"date":"2025-03-21T14:26:17","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T15:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.camperscorner.net\/?p=476"},"modified":"2025-03-28T18:08:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T18:08:18","slug":"construction-diary-how-a-california-designer-crafted-his-new-family-home-on-top-of-their-first-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.camperscorner.net\/index.php\/2025\/03\/21\/construction-diary-how-a-california-designer-crafted-his-new-family-home-on-top-of-their-first-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction Diary: How a California Designer Crafted His New Family Home\u2014On Top of Their First Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Eric Johnson fixed a 1,430-square-foot indoor\/outdoor plan atop his \u201950s Encinitas beach house, disguising the entire project as a single residence.<\/p>\n

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Eric Johnson appreciates sleight of hand, especially when it comes to design. The educator and designer\u2019s own home in Encinitas, California, appears as a two-level single-family dwelling\u2014one front door, uniform cladding, and few windows on the lower level\u2014but is in fact two homes. Having been in his \u201950s beach home for 17 years, Eric wanted more space (and more bathrooms) for his growing family, so he designed a 1,430-square-foot indoor\/outdoor plan on top of it, moving in upstairs and using the original space as a rental.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Architecture<\/a>
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Architecture professor Eric Johnson created a new home for his family atop their \u201950s beach home in Encinitas, California. Its living area opens to a covered porch with views of the neighborhood and beach.<\/p>\n

Photo by Kristy Walker<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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“The new house essentially fits over the old one and hovers above it,” explains Eric. He doesn\u2019t mean that his family\u2019s floor literally “hovers,” of course, but that it has its own structural system that ties into the existing home, separated with a cavity between the roof and the new floor that holds mechanical equipment dedicated to the top level. Each home has its own entrance, and Eric kept the office downstairs for himself, which has its own access, and sits adjacent to his standalone woodshop.<\/p>\n

In another of a series of surprises, because Eric maintained and lightly updated the interiors of the \u201950s home while he and his family lived there, entering the freshly clad building on the lower level is something of a time warp. Below, the designer explains how he preserved their beloved beach home while creating an upstairs addition\u2014or perhaps, more accurately, a house on a house\u2014that works for both his family and the neighborhood.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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An 18-foot-long glass slider connects the open-plan living area with the covered porch, essentially doubling the usable space.<\/p>\n

Photo by Jeremy Artates<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Something Old, Something New<\/h4>\n

Eric Johnson: <\/b>My family and I had been living in this house for a while before we decided to add on. Both of my kids were born here. It\u2019s a typical 1950s coastal beach house: single story, two bedrooms, one bath, very little storage. Over time, I removed all the carpeting and refinished the floors, and I redid the bathroom and the kitchen\u2014mostly cosmetic stuff. As our kids were getting older, it started to feel tight, especially when you\u2019re sharing one bathroom with four people. It was time to expand.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The<\/a>
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The living room in the existing home has a wood ceiling with exposed beams. Johnson wanted to maintain these and other historic details, so he devised a separate structure for the addition that\u2019s attached to the home.<\/p>\n

Photo by Jeremy Artates<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

See the full story on Dwell.com: Construction Diary: How a California Designer Crafted His New Family Home\u2014On Top of Their First Home<\/a><\/b>
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