Before & After: This Reinvented Monterey Bungalow Shows That Sometimes, Smaller Is Better

Brian Libby
·1 min read
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Architect Merritt Amanti Palminteri redesigns her family home to add volume, flow, and infinite charm without changing the footprint.

Architect Merritt Amanti Palminteri reinvented her family home to add volume, flow, and infinite charm without changing the footprint.
Architect Merritt Amanti Palminteri reinvented her family home to add volume, flow, and infinite charm without changing the footprint.

Although iconic 20th-century architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe coined the now-familiar phrase less is more, many designers, if given the chance, would expand their own home rather than simply make its existing spaces work better.

Merritt Amanti Palminteri and Rogers Hawley revamped their Monterey bungalow without expanding its footprint.
Merritt Amanti Palminteri and Rogers Hawley revamped their Monterey bungalow without expanding its footprint.

That’s not to say architect Merritt Amanti Palminteri and her husband, Rogers Hawley, weren’t tempted to go bigger. Upon returning to Merritt’s hometown of Monterrey, California, after several years in New York City, they purchased a 1,700-square-foot, three-bedroom 1950 ranch house on a street that her mother had lived on during in high school; the house had even belonged to one of her mother’s friends.

Before: Living Room

The ranch house in Monterey that Merritt Palminteri and Rogers Hawley purchased had change little since its 1950 construction. But its arched foyer doorway provided inspiration in the ensuing redesign.
The ranch house in Monterey that Merritt Palminteri and Rogers Hawley purchased had change little since its 1950 construction. But its arched foyer doorway provided inspiration in the ensuing redesign.

"We were driving by it one day and my mom said, ‘Look, Peggy’s house is for sale,’" Merritt recalls. Theirs was one of several offers, but the couple won out in part because they told the sellers they didn’t plan to significantly add on to the home, or demolish it.

The redesign slightly reduced the living room's size to make more room for the kitchen and a relocated dining room.
The redesign slightly reduced the living room's size to make more room for the kitchen and a relocated dining room.

See the full story on Dwell.com: Before & After: This Reinvented Monterey Bungalow Shows That Sometimes, Smaller Is Better
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