Casting a Rustic Spell

At first, you can barely see the connection between the snapshot of a compact 1920s bungalow and the vibrant two-story work of art that emerged on the same spot last year.

In fact, the old house and the new--situated on a wooded quarter-acre in the Hollywood Hills--share the same “footprint,” with the living room to the left of the front door and the dining room and kitchen to the right.

Then, if you look closer, you see that the brick patio of the old house was dismantled and rebuilt as the chimney on the remodeled home, and salvaged two-by-fours were re-milled into moldings and ceiling planks.

“We didn’t like the idea of tossing out perfectly good wood,” said Nancy Moscatiello, who bought and remodeled the house with her husband, Derrick Drymon. “You can see the old nail holes. I love that.”

John Sofio, the architect-contractor, concurred: “We respected the original house.”

In 1995, the property’s big trees and privacy captivated the couple, both New Jersey natives. But after a couple of years, the 780-square-foot house felt unbearably cramped.

“It appeared to be getting smaller with time,” said Moscatiello, who wanted to start a family.

Once an addition and remodel were decided upon, the couple had a tough time finding a contractor or architect with original ideas. As one contractor told them: “I’ve done a hundred. . . . Come on down and I’ll show you.”

As Moscatiello recalled: “They all wanted to do basic stuff.”

But a standard-issue remodel wouldn’t have suited the couple, who are creative by nature and by trade. He’s an artistic director at Nickelodeon; she’s a producer for “Real TV.”

Finally, through a neighbor, they found “young and aggressive” Sofio.

Spending evenings and Saturdays together, the couple and the architect got to know each other. The couple’s mandate: give us a bigger house, but don’t touch the lot.

Straight away, they noticed Sofio was not ordinary.

“We’d come home, and he’d be sitting on the roof,” Moscatiello said. “He’d spend hours up there.”

Sofio explained that a design had to be “site-specific” because the home nestles in a shaded glen, 30 feet below street level, and is reached via a winding path descending a wooded hillside. To be successful, an addition would require an engaging appearance from the street as well as at ground level.

Gradually, Sofio began sketching ideas. His first images were too contemporary for the couple, who craved a woodsy Craftsman feeling but didn’t want to mimic a traditional design. As Drymon pointed out: “The time those houses were built is over. You can’t recapture that.”

By collaborating, the three hit upon a “contemporary Craftsman” look, or what Sofio dubbed “organic industrial.” This would include bright yellow walls, exposed metal bracings, thick ceiling beams, and wood floors and windows.

To create more space, the original living room and sole bedroom downstairs would be combined to create one large living room. Then, a master bedroom and bathroom would be added as a second story, increasing the home’s square footage to 1,300 square feet.

Later, as the family continues to grow--the couple’s first child, Vera, was born in mid-1998--a projected second phase will add more upstairs bedrooms and update the kitchen.

Starting with a budget of $70,000, the couple added $50,000 more in extras. Having moved to an apartment during the remodel, they felt their biggest dose of buyer’s remorse when the original living room and bedroom were demolished.

That day, a friend stopped by and repeated the platitude that remodels “cost twice as much and take twice as long” as one expects.

Moscatiello thought: “There’s no turning back.”

For this couple, though, the seven-month remodel, with its terror, doubt and risk, ended well, netting them a unique house that is both buoyant and grounded.

The buoyancy begins with the fanciful, checkered pattern of light and dark asphalt tiles on the second-story roof, which is visible as one approaches the house from the hillside.

“I knew the roof had to dance,” Sofio explained.

Another lighthearted feature developed after Drymon issued a curious request during the design process: “I want the walls to move.”

In Drymon’s imagination, the walls could glide open and expose the living room to decks and the wooded lot beyond. Sofio made that a reality by hiring an industrial door maker to craft two sliding wooden panels.

Another wall swings up like a garage door, with the help of an 800-pound counterweight.

The three also collaborated on the fireplace design after Moscatiello rejected Sofio’s modernistic plan by exclaiming: “I don’t want it. I don’t want it.” The three take equal credit for the rustic fireplace, which, with its wooden frame, metal braces and stacked stone, recalls the opening to a mine shaft.

Sofio added other elements related to feng shui, the Chinese art of energy and placement. For instance, the “marriage room,” as he calls the master bedroom, faces south and will remain--even after more bedrooms are added--the highest station in the house.

“This is where they are in command of the site,” Sofio said.

For the subsequent remodels, Moscatiello and Drymon will again turn to Sofio. When asked how many more children he wants, Drymon replied: “As many as John can build rooms for.”

Kathy Price-Robinson is a freelance writer who has reported about remodeling for nine years. She can be reached at kathyprice@aol.com.

Send Us Your Remodeling Tale

If you would like to have your remodeling project--large or small--considered for use in the Pardon Our Dust series, please send before and after photos (copies only, please; we cannot return the pictures) and a brief description of the project, including costs, to Home Editor, Southern California Living, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. Please include a daytime phone number.