An overcrowded 1950s bungalow morphs into a sleek, spacious refuge

Almost everything about Alison and Jeff Goad’s longtime Manhattan Beach home seemed like an argument for moving.

To work, Jeff had to set up his desk and two computers in the kitchen because there was no room for a home office elsewhere. To play, the couple’s three children had to traipse through the master bedroom to get to the backyard. The cramped quarters also meant that entertaining wasn’t an option, plus there was the constant noise and lack of privacy that came with being on a corner lot near a busy intersection.

“We knew we couldn’t keep living in it the way it was,” Alison says.

So why did they stay and remodel? Three words: Alison’s younger brother. He happens to be Ed Ogosta, an L.A.-based architect who’d spent several years at three local firms overseeing office, multifamily and museum projects and who, at the time, had recently launched his own practice.

Although Ogosta was eager to tackle the redo and present it as a future calling card, the Goads — she’s a dental hygienist and he’s a pharmacy professor — were initially cautious about hiring him. More accustomed to traditional design styles, they wondered if they would like his aesthetic, which skewed more modern. And, after having dealt with a laid-back contractor in the past, they were surprised by his exacting hands-on approach, down to deciding door knobs and drawer pulls.

Podocarpus hedge, fountain grass and a Desert Museum Palo Verde tree, far left, at the entrance of Alison and Jeff Goad’s Manhattan Beach home.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

“I knew this house had to be great if it was going to propel my career forward, so I think I cared about it even more than they did,” Ogosta jokes in his defense.

For their part, the Goads gradually came to trust Ogosta, reasoning that he was the experienced architect, after all. As Alison put it: “We decided to give him creative rights as long as he gave us the rooms we wanted.”

Ogosta delivered what he promised, turning the couple’s overcrowded 1950s bungalow into a sleek, spacious refuge. This was no mere renovation, but a total transformation. Even so, it proved to be more practical and affordable for the Goads than trading up in Southern California’s real estate market.

Receiving a sibling discount on Ogosta’s fee was nice, of course, but even more important was the cost-saving design strategy.

He planned the remodel so that he could demolish only the front of the 1,300-square-foot house and leave the existing master suite, two other bedrooms and the garage intact. This made way for a dramatic 1,000-square-foot, double-height addition to the common living areas. Under a flat roof, open living, cooking and dining areas flow enticingly from the entry toward a rear courtyard equipped with a grill, fire pit and fountain in the shade of a huge Italian stone pine.

After the remodel: Charlie pauses to see what homeowner Alison Goad is up to, while in the kitchen, where the island and dining table enhance the linear flow out to the back patio, which is shaded by a large Italian stone pine tree.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

By eliminating an old bay window along one street and relocating the front door along the other, Ogosta was able to line an inside wall with cabinets that provide much-needed storage as well as a visual and acoustical buffer from passing traffic. Clerestory windows wash the interiors with sunlight and frame the tops of neighborhood palm trees. A compartment built into cabinets behind the sofa conceals Jeff’s fold-out home office.

“I had never been in a house like this,” Jeff says, “it’s amazing.”

The nearby beach’s sea walls, coastal grasses and driftwood inspired the neutral palette of low-maintenance materials. The exterior is white plaster punctuated by vertical fins of cement board that wrap around a corner of the building. Low board-formed concrete garden walls set off the house from the sidewalk. Inside, polished concrete floors, white oak built-ins, white quartz counters and white marble tabletops make for a minimalist backdrop to the large parties and holiday gatherings Alison is able to host now that she has the extra space and an open floor plan.

Glass doors by LaCantina fold together to create a completely unobstructed opening to the living room, at the front of Alison and Jeff Goad’s remodeled home in Manhattan Beach.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

In addition to improving the home’s appearance and enlarging the space, Ogosta made it function more sustainably. Photovoltaic solar panels power energy-efficient appliances and recharge two electric cars in the net-zero project. Folding glass doors and skylights let in cool ocean breezes and natural light. Decomposed granite, gravel and drought-tolerant plants replaced lawn.

The house, which has won awards from the American Institute of Architects, continues to elicit compliments from visitors — and praise from the Goads.

“There was a lot of pressure on Eddie,” Alison quips about her kid brother. “If this didn’t go well, this house could have messed up the rest of our lives forever.”

More before and after photos »

1/19

A green screen of tall podocarpus, fountain grass reminiscent of beach grasses and a “Desert Museum” palo verde tree (far left) soften the board-formed concrete walls at Alison and Jeff Goad’s Manhattan Beach home. The walls were stepped back as required by city zoning regulations. Next to the entrance’s white oak pivot-hinge door are the living room’s glass doors, which can be folded out of the way as needed.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

2/19

Exterior lighting highlights the remodeled home of Alison and Jeff Goad in Manhattan Beach.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

3/19

Charlie pauses to see what homeowner Alison Goad is up to in the kitchen, where the island and nearby dining table facilitate the flow out to the back patio, shaded by a large Italian stone pine. The available footprint for the kitchen and dining area was narrow, but building in the banquette seating yielded more room for circulation. All cabinetry is rift-cut white oak with a white oil stain. The vertical wood pattern in the dining nook echoes the cement board fins on the facade.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

4/19

Architect Ed Ogosta is photographed in the remodeled Manhattan Beach kitchen of Alison and Jeff Goad, his sister and brother-in-law.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

5/19

Glass doors by LaCantina fold to create a completely unobstructed opening to the living room, at the front of Alison and Jeff Goad’s remodeled home in Manhattan Beach.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

6/19

The lifeguard towers of Manhattan Beach provided the color inspiration for the aqua tile in the powder room, sourced from Heath Ceramics in Sausalito, in the Manhattan Beach remodel of Alison and Jeff Goad’s home.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

7/19

The lifeguard towers of Manhattan Beach provided the color inspiration for the aqua tile in the powder room, sourced from Heath Ceramics in Sausalito, in the Manhattan Beach remodel of Alison and Jeff Goad’s home.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

8/19

A podocarpus hedge, fountain grass and a “Desert Museum” palo verde, far left, at the entrance of Alison and Jeff Goad’s Manhattan Beach home.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

9/19

This gravel patio is intimate and quiet, with stipa grass and a fountain from Restoration Hardware, part of the remodel of Alison and Jeff Goad’s Manhattan Beach home.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

10/19

Board-formed concrete walls and Minerit board, a heavy-duty cement board used for siding, surround Alison and Jeff Goad’s Manhattan Beach home.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

11/19

Exterior lighting enhances Alison and Jeff Goad’s Manhattan Beach home and an Italian stone pine.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

12/19

With folding glass doors by LaCantina creating an unobstructed opening at each end of the house, an open concept and flow are achieved in the remodel of Alison and Jeff Goad’s Manhattan Beach home.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

13/19

Not wanting a high backsplash to take away viewable area of the master bathroom mirror in the Manhattan Beach home of Alison and Jeff Goad, architect Ed Ogosta made the entire wall above the sink a mirror, with holes cut for the faucet.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

14/19

The master bedroom got new large sliding windows to take advantage of western exposure and sun throughout the afternoon in the Manhattan Beach home of Alison and Jeff Goad, which was remodeled by Alison’s brother, architect Ed Ogosta.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

15/19

Ian Goad, 11, in the home’s remodeled kitchen, which uses an island to facilitate the flow out to the back patio. All cabinetry, which creates a barrier against the noise and traffic of the busy intersection outdoors, is rift-cut white oak with a white oil stain.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

16/19

Charlie protects the living room of the newly remodeled home.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

17/19

A podocarpus hedge creates a wall of vegetation at the entrance of Alison and Jeff Goad’s Manhattan Beach home.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

18/19

The front door is a custom white oak pivot-hinge door, seen with Minerit board, a heavy-duty cement board used for siding.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

19/19

In the remodel of Alison and Jeff Goad’s Manhattan Beach home, the living area needed to remain lower due to zoning height limits, but in the kitchen/dining area, the ceiling soars to 14 feet, where clerestory windows bring in late afternoon light and views of the palms.

  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)