Before: Midcentury living room
Featured in Sunset's May 1966 issue, this award-winning La Mesa hillside home near San Diego was considered a model of indoor-outdoor living.
From the downstairs office and family room, glass doors led to an outdoor patio and beautiful gardens.
A photo taken soon after the house was built shows the living room’s double-sided fireplace.
After: living room
The living room now glows with new wood floors and a lighter, less-obtrusive shade of paint on the ceiling beams and trim.
Indoor-outdoor living
A glazed breezeway and sliding glass doors opened onto shady decks that abutted the hillside of granite boulders and meandering pathways.
An updated classic
A sensitive 2007 update by local architect Carmen Pauli and owners Jora and Bryan Vess kept the essential character of the 3,178-square-foot residence while incorporating modern eco-friendly materials, including Brazilian teak floors and ipe wood decking.
Free flow
Steel post-and-beam construction eliminates the need for thick supporting walls in the living areas.
View master
With the main living areas on the second floor, dining in the treetops is a daily treat.
Kitchen in Plain Sight
Featured in Sunset's May 1966 issue, this award-winning La Mesa hillside home near San Diego was considered a model of indoor-outdoor living.
The renovated kitchen retains the original footprint minus the overhead cabinets that isolated it from the dining area.
Sense of place
Floor to ceiling windows in the living and dining areas offer a broad view of the surrounding landscape and valley below.
