Modern Refresh of Hoover + Hill

This home is beautifully sited below a large outcropping of granite. To reach the front door, visitors descend a curved steel and wood staircase that appears to levitate just over the stone. The one-story program is nestled under three shallow-gable roofs carried by an exposed post and beam wood structure. The cruciform plan is arranged with a central core that contains the family room, kitchen, dining, and sunken living room. Designed in 1958 by notable Lincoln architects Henry Hoover and Walter Hill, the mid-century modern bones of this house were impressively intact when Flavin Architects was asked to design renovations some sixty years after the original construction.

The renovation design by Flavin Architects focused on updating the interiors while maintaining the integrity of the original house. Our interventions included replacing a partition wall separating the kitchen and dining areas with floating wood shelving suspended on steel cables. The refurbished kitchen is accented with hand-made tiles by Heath Ceramics. Worn tile floors were replaced with large-format porcelain tiles, and the original concrete block chimney was clad with thin porcelain slabs in a dark grey finish. New LED cable lights were suspended just below the finished ceiling to avoid damaging the exposed wood ceiling. To improve thermal comfort, Flavin Architects inserted a radiant panel heating system over the existing concrete floors.