Builder / Creekside Construction
Downtown Coeur d’Alene neighborhoods are intensely charming, with their mature tree-lined streets, quaint homes and endearing community vibe.
It’s why Raniel and Eren Diaz bought a 1940s house here seven years ago, and why they opted to rebuild it after a fire ravaged it last year.
Like all house fires, theirs was tragic, to be sure. Yet, it presented the couple with an opportunity to start over in a home that better fit their family while remaining in the neighborhood where they’ve planted roots.
“We just love the community we live in,” Raniel said. “We didn’t even think twice about moving.”
The original home had undergone a remodel in 1966 and again in 2011 before the couple purchased it. Yet even then, the space didn’t serve the family well. All of the bedrooms were close together on the main floor, and the underutilized basement offered little living space. Few exterior windows and limited natural light made for a dark house, especially in the fall and winter months. And functionally, some things just didn’t work.
So the couple turned to custom homebuilder Creekside Construction, which over the years has rescued many local families whose homes have been damaged by various forms of disaster.
“The Diaz’s main goals for re-creating their home after the fire, were to gain more garage space, add another level for the kids’ rooms and bring in more natural light,” said homebuilder Dave Adams.
Working with just the foundation and one garage wall, Creekside’s team transformed the Diaz’s home. Designer Tom Pehlke of Design Build Group of Idaho bumped out the garage, put a roof-top patio above it, created a second floor and all the while worked to balance the homeowners’ preferences, the homebuilder’s needs and the character of the neighborhood.
In another big change, the front of the home that faced a busy street was moved to the quieter tree-lined avenue. A variety of styles and materials were used to give the exterior loads of character. The result: a home that from the front looks like an urban farmhouse and from the side appears more urban industrial.
“It’s a hybrid of yester-year, yet modern,” Tom says. “Very few homes anymore are pure in one style. Each part of the (Diaz’s) house has such a unique look to it.”
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The Diaz’s designed the interior, going with a Scandinavian-modern style, specifically inspired by the design practice of hygge. Using this cozy-but-clean approach, the Diaz’s went with smooth walls, simple white-painted trim, lots of natural diverse woods and pops of color throughout.
“My wife and I really enjoyed designing this house,” Raniel says. “We were definitely trying to take the road less traveled. In the end, we chose mostly function over aesthetics. But it turned out to be really pretty, too.” N
By Kristina Lyman
Photography By Joel Riner
As Featured In: 2019 Winter/Spring CDA Edition
