This home is Sapna and Karan Aggarwal’s first project with their newly opened design/build firm, Bungalowe. It took them six months to find this rundown and dated Tudor in Los Angeles’ Eagle Rock neighborhood. However, despite its small footprint – originally only 1,400 square feet of useable space – its lot size and architecture gave it plenty of potential.
“When we purchased the home, it was half the size it is today. It was completely outdated, overgrown and in desperate need of a renovation,” Karan and Sapna said. “Dahlia Drive is lined with English Tudors and Spanish-style homes and it was very important for us, and to the neighborhood, that we keep it that way. The character and structure of the exterior very much remained the same (with a major facelift of course) but there was no way of achieving our interior goals while keeping the original layout.”
The first floor was completely opened up, removing all of the original small rooms to create a living room, dining room, and kitchen with better flow. Sapna and Karan took advantage of the large lot to expand the lower level with a 600 square-foot addition that offered more generous living areas in the home as well as allowing for a second-floor deck off of the main bedroom. They also realized that the house had an attic with vaulted ceilings that was completely unused that they converted into a second story, allowing them to create spacious bedrooms.
Although Sapna and Karan eliminated the highly compartmentalized layout of the home, they did introduce, however, classic elements of Tudor architecture in the form of pointed arched divisions separating each space. “They make a very big statement from the second you step through the front door, and are not subtle in design or quantity (with six arches in total),” they explained.
The kitchen also follows that line between contemporary and classic Tudor, with an open island concept and an intimate breakfast nook. Sapna and Karan introduced high-quality materials to make this an extra luxurious space for future homeowners: “The kitchen is a dream come true and features 17 feet of countertop space, a large island, bar top peninsula, a built-in designer pantry, and cozy breakfast nook,” they said. “For our countertop choice, we went with real marble for a more authentic, European feel, balanced with custom oak cabinets by Mike Lawson of Laboratory of Reclamation. We furnished it with a full suite of Bertazzoni appliances – including a show-stopping Bianco 6-burner range, Professional Series panel-ready refrigerator, and dishwasher) – as well as a 36-inch white fireclay apron front sink with a matte black pull-out faucet and coordinating matte black pot filler.”
The rest of the home also features high-quality finishes and materials. The bathrooms, for example, have been outfitted in hand-cut zellige tile made in Belgium from Clé. The exterior spaces were given a major update with a new hand-built redwood back deck and a capiz shell inlay front door. “You can feel our commitment to top quality and our passion for design,” they shared. “Our main goal was to bring form and function together, and we took a very hands-on approach to our design.”
This stunning Tudor in Los Angeles is currently on the market; you can take a look at the listing here.
