Built in 1960, the San Diego house had had only one owner when Kerri and Brent Gutekunst bought it in 2002. “Decades of neglect had taken their toll,” says Kerri, “but we had great bones to start with. We were so happy to find a mid-twentieth century house that was untouched.” Although eager to maintain the period look, the couple undertook a careful room-by-room remodeling, leaving the kitchen for last.
Built on a hill overlooking a canyon, the three-level house is entered from the top, or street level. The kitchen and dining room are one level below. By the time designer Cheryl Hamilton-Gray came aboard, the Gutekunsts had learned from a contractor which walls were structural, and thus couldn’t be easily moved or eliminated. They had also purchased a Sub-Zero refrigerator and Wolf range, each 48-inches wide. “We loved the functionality of these appliances,” says Kerri.
“The existing kitchen was kind of a box, so we thought Cheryl would just rearrange the elements within it,” Kerri adds. Instead, Hamilton-Gray came up with a plan that flipped the kitchen and dining room, enhancing the view of the landscape and offering better access to a narrow concrete patio.
The laundry room, however, could not be relocated, meaning it would now be reached through the dining room. Undaunted, the designer hid the utilitarian space behind tall, translucent glass doors. The new kitchen floor plan also easily accommodated both of the appliances the couple had already purchased.
Despite radically rearranging the elements, the designer insists that she “worked within the 286-square-foot shell.” She raised the ceiling to match the long slope of the roof, exposing two previously hidden skylights, and created a great room by opening both kitchen and dining room to the living room.
To compensate for removing a structural wall, Hamilton-Gray had a steel column installed to support the roof beam, then disguised the column by encasing it in stainless-steel-trimmed mahogany. The inspiration for this key component was her clients’ mahogany dining table, similarly banded with stainless steel.
“Looking out at the canyon from the kitchen, you almost feel you’re in a tree house,” says Hamilton-Gray. “We were amazed by the finished project,” Kerri adds. “It wasn’t what we’d envisioned, but now we can’t imagine it looking any other way.”