Sometimes the old adage “You can’t go home again” is simply untrue. At least it has been for Jeff Holman.
The former investment banker, now an adjunct professor at UC San Diego in La Jolla, was raised in east San Diego County before moving to New York City and then the Bay Area. In that time, he married his wife, Patricia, a partner with Deloitte, and they had three children, the oldest now 17.
In 2019, the investment fund Jeff had been running closed and the couple realized they could live anywhere. Ten years earlier, while living in Manhattan, they had bought a 1,900-square-foot house in La Jolla’s Windansea neighborhood. They decided it was a good time to return to San Diego to live there.
Like other houses nearby, the one the Holmans purchased was 1950s-era ranch-style.
“We were told by a neighbor that it was a modular home — she re being a little girl marveling at the house being brought in on a truck. Some of the cinder block foundation seems to this idea,” Jeff said. “But as a result, the house was not built to the same standards as some of the contemporary homes in the neighborhood by architect Thomas Shepherd.”
It also was much smaller than what the couple were used to.
“We love the area; there’s family in town,” he said. “But we’d gone from 4,000 square feet in the Bay Area to less than half that here.”
Once the couple decided the house needed to expand for their family of five, they found architect Christian Rice through a local builder who said Rice’s designs and plans were always thoughtful and comprehensive and had an aesthetic that matched theirs.
“We love certain aspects of midcentury architecture — long lines, expansive windows — and wanted to create something that, while being modern, would incorporate elements from when the neighborhood was established,” Jeff said. “We found an inspiration home online in the Hamptons, not too far from where we summered when we lived in Manhattan. That house incorporated many of the vertical louvers and reeding elements that permeated our design. We liked how those elements soften the starkness of a modern box without adding additional ornamental structures.”
Jeff said he and Patricia wanted four key things:
- Integrated indoor-outdoor living
- Downstairs formal living spaces and upstairs informal living spaces
- An oversize breakfast nook that could be used for family meals and study space
- Maximized ocean views
The renovation began in late 2021 and was finished about a year later, during which time the family was able to rent a house a couple of doors down the street, Rice said. The project involved renovation of all the existing area, including a 111-square-foot addition to the first floor and a new 1,970-square-foot second floor, plus a new roof deck. It now has five bedrooms, 5½ bathrooms and a little office for Patricia on the first floor. Four of the bedrooms and bathrooms are upstairs, along with a family room. The first floor has bright, voluminous spaces where Patricia can host large networking events for work.
Rice mostly kept the L-shaped footprint of the original house, which helped the couple avoid the costly and time-consuming process of a full coastal review. But, he said, the addition of the second floor necessitated a totally new structure design.
The design he created for the family couldn’t be further from the original brick and wood home. From the street, it has a strong contemporary aesthetic with plenty of glass and far-reaching vertical lines topped by a flat roof line and mixed materials palette.
The exterior design incorporates a mix of composite wood siding, wood-hybrid louvers, stucco, anodized aluminum doors and windows, various trim s and stone tile accents, Rice said. “While the home has a very simple massing with the stacked front facade and flat roof, the exterior materials really bring the home to life and infuse a great sense of warmth and style into the design,” he said.
The warren of little rooms and low ceilings inside is gone. The public spaces downstairs are open and airy, with large windows and door openings, as well as high ceilings. The second story gives the family the ocean views they craved, as does the roof deck.
Interior designer Alicia Jonik of South Harlow Interiors in La Jolla married Rice’s architectural design with furnishings that met the Holmans’ lifestyle.
“South Harlow was a pivotal team member for the project,” Rice said. “They were involved in early design meetings. Owner Erika Gervin and her team took our basic interior elevation drawings and added details and materials to refine them further to bring the owners’ vision to life.”
It was important to Jonik to keep the larger pieces in the house neutral, starting with the engineered white oak flooring through most of the house, and then add color from the outside or an accent piece or artwork.
“That keeps the design really timeless and then you can grow and evolve with it,” she said.
She kept the materials durable for the young family, which now also includes a foster dog.
“We chose a lot of indoor/outdoor fabrics,” Jonik said. “For the banquette where they eat, that’s a vinyl that looks like leather and it wears really nicely. The kids can beat it up if they want to. So just being cognizant of things like that I think is helpful to achieve the look but then also, more importantly, the function.”
Jonik designed lots of storage space in the kitchen, including an appliance garage on one end of the back counter because, as Jeff said, “we don’t really want any appliances on the counter.”
The rift white oak cabinets extend across the length of the kitchen, topped at the ceiling by reeded oak s, and include s over the hood, refrigerator and dishwasher. The kitchen also includes a 48-inch range opposite the spacious island, which is more than 8 feet long with a linear suspension light above.
Just beyond the kitchen is the outdoor dining and entertaining area.
“Our main goal is taking what’s happening on the inside and making sure it carries and translates well to the exterior,” Jonik said. “So we picked materials that would highlight the architecture Christian designed. We used the same [quartz] countertop material that we did in the kitchen. And then we picked that really beautiful raked limestone to go on the fireplace because it was simple and quiet, but the texture is really nice and gives some dimension out there. And the tile that we chose for the backsplash of the grill area is dark because it just felt like nice juxtaposition with the house. And I like that it’s kind of like a semi-gloss, so you get a little bit of the shine.”
Jonik extended the dark theme to the furnishings, including two charcoal-colored outdoor sofas on either side of a massive concrete rectangular coffee table. Beyond is a small play area with artificial turf that abuts a pool large enough for the kids to play a game of water polo and have some spa time after. The pool makes up the view from the rest of the kitchen and dining area.
“Work events, kids’ pool parties, grilling at least weekly,” Jeff said. “The feeling of airy space and sunlight everywhere gives a sense of peace in the house. Plus, no one has to share a bathroom with our fourth-grade son anymore!” ◆
