Classic cottage

This remodel and addition in the Sycamore Park neighborhood of Mill Valley, California, has transformed a 2,000-square-foot home by adding 700 square feet, creating a spacious family residence for a family with four children relocating from the East Coast. Designed to blend indoor and outdoor living, the home is set on an 8,769-square-foot lot, deeply nestled among large trees, including a majestic Redwood and a giant Sequoia, evoking the feeling of being in an enchanted forest, in close proximity to the national Redwood forests of Muir Woods. The layout features five bedrooms, including a primary suite and a fifth bedroom that serves as an office, with most rooms opening to covered porches and multiple decks, enhancing livable space. Large picture windows and French doors invite in natural light and greenery, while balconies and terraces extend the home’s footprint, offering sweeping lawns, mature plantings, a fire pit, and al fresco dining areas in a setting reminiscent of classic Nantucket shingle-style homes, complete with all-day sun.