Direct from the Architect: Taking the First Steps toward a Bay Area Home Expansion

Today we're sharing some wisdom and advice (and an offer for a FREE expert consultation!) from local architect and Pacific Edge client Justin Mikecz. We asked him to help our readers understand how to take the first steps toward making their renovation or expansion dreams come true. Take it away, Justin!

Did you purchase a new home in the Bay Area in the past five-plus years? First, congratulations! Usually with the excitement of (finally) purchasing a home, comes the unsettling uncertainty of how to make it the home that you truly want.

If you are like me, you probably spent (way) more and got less than what you initially wanted. My wife and I purchased a charming, but outdated 110-year old Edwardian home in the Inner Sunset in 2019. We love it, but we are outgrowing it quickly with our two kids and the looming possibility and desire to house our aging parents. While we like the historic articulation on the outside, we are less enthused by the very outdated and tiny kitchen and bathrooms; and lack of meaningful storage, basic modern conveniences (like a dishwasher or indoor access to our washer and dryer) and bedrooms (we just have the two).

Even as an architect entrenched in the home construction industry, my experience of getting plans approved for a major addition and alteration to our home has caused me to really appreciate (even more) how overwhelming it is to consider an expansion or renovation of your home. Depending on scale and complexity, it can take a couple of years to get approved and another year-plus to get built–that is if you can even afford the project once approved.

That is one of the reasons my firm, Kerman Morris Architects, is offering a free initial consultation to new (or not-so-new or potential) homeowners. If you are interested in learning what is possible with your home and your budget, we’re happy to walk through your home with you, discuss your goals and budget, and offer a preliminary analysis of potential development opportunities.

The plan for the historic Victorian in San Francisco’s Russian Hill maintained the original façade, gutted the interior space, and increased square footage by expanding upwards and to the back. 

If you are interested in a deeper dive after this preliminary analysis, we can provide a more detailed analysis that includes a narrative of the potential scope, a preliminary Planning and Building Code analysis and construction budget range for a nominal and affordable fee (typically $400-800). 

We also have a passion and expertise in (affordable) green building construction and retrofits that we are happy to discuss and share including its great potential to help you add value and save money at the same time (eat your cake and have it too).

We realize a home renovation/addition will be one of the most expensive investments homeowners will make in their lives (often second only to the home purchase itself) and they would like to get some advice and expert analysis and build a relationship with an architect before they are willing to move forward with this investment. We’re here to help, one step at a time.

Featured Small Business Profile: Kerman Morris Architects

We are a small, nimble firm specializing in the design of single and multi-family residential new and retrofit construction in the Bay Area. Like Pacific Edge, we are hyper-local; we know the area, neighborhood by neighborhood. Most of our work is in our hometown of San Francisco, but we do have work extending as far as Santa Cruz.

One of our projects in Santa Cruz

While we are doing more and more single-family work, our extensive experience in the multi-family space has helped us form strong relationships with the Planning and Building Departments and a deep understanding of how to get complex projects approved in a timely manner. We even moved a 140-year old Victorian home in one-piece seven blocks on hilly, narrow city streets in San Francisco back in 2021. It required careful coordination with a dozen city entities (and a little audacity).

The 140-year old Englander House on its way to its new home on Fulton Street

We are passionate about doing our little part to address the housing crisis (we are active in housing advocacy) and the climate crisis. We have LEED and Certified Passive House Designers in our firm and a holistic, systems approach to design that utilizes building science to deliver high-performance, resilient, durable, comfortable and energy-efficient buildings. Interested in learning more? Please reach out, we would be happy to hear from you!

Justin Mikecz

AIA, CPHD*, LEED AP BD+C

kerman morris architects LLP

[email protected] 

kermanmorris.com

(ask me about Passive House and how it could benefit your project)