John Mills Davies is not only the Director of Design for Marrokal Design & Remodeling, he is also a Marrokal client. Davies’s green remodel of his modernist-urban bungalow at 3076 Thorn Street in North Park, San Diego has won three national design awards: Professional Remodeler’s 2009 Best of the Best Design Award, 2009 Chryslis Award for Design Excellence Small Green Home and Qualified Remodeler’s 2009 Master Design Award.

Davies moved to North Park thirteen years ago and has now lived in his Thorn Street home for a year. The original shotgun cottage was purchased in 2000 with the thought of doing a complete remodel. Due to the extremely constrictive lot size (50 X 52) and the poor condition of the original structure, the city approved new construction on the same footprint. Construction began after removal of the original bungalow in 2007. Davies home is located five blocks off famous Balboa Park, San Diego where you will find tree lined streets with older homes built in the early to mid 1900s, including craftsman bungalows of different styles. Boutique shops and restaurants, most of which are pet-friendly, are in walking distance and make it convenient to enjoy the amenities of urban living.

The original bungalow was built in 1908 of single wall redwood plank construction and sat on a raised foundation of river rock and cement piers, which were common building materials used at the time. They are however non-code compliant today! In the 70s, the house sustained fire damage caused by a kitchen fire, had low seven foot ceilings, had a crumbling foundation and was sited on a sub-standard size lot.

Remodeling the existing home would have called for a complex but manageable undertaking: lifting the house and replacing the foundation, removing the roof completely, framing the house from the inside (as absolutely no increase in floor area was allowed), replacing the roof and then beginning any renovation of the house that was to be made.

After three years of negotiating with the city, demolition of the home was permitted and new construction would begin with building plans not to exceed the footprint of the original structure.

John and Architect partner Alex Catala articulated every advantage to the new home design. The design direction was to create a modernist bungalow, fitting in scale and proportion with the rest of the neighborhood, but incorporating a loft aesthetic with strong modernist/mid-century modern styling cues. It was very important that the new house was constructed within green building practice guidelines. Without any reservations, Davies selected Marrokal Design & Remodeling to build his home. Marrokal’s primary focus is in Green Building and employs the largest award winning Certified Green staff of any remodeler in San Diego.

“We had another contractor at first and he ended up being the horror story everyone talks about when they’ve had a bad experience. He was dishonest, uncommunicative, combative and a thief,” Davies said. “Gary Marrokal [of Marrokal Design & Remodeling] told me to fire that guy and Marrokal would take over!”

They did and it was amazing. Wall framing had to be straightened. Electrical and plumbing had to all be reworked, among other things. “I now know what our clients are talking about when thievery come to us after having had bad experiences with other contractors and also why they are so relieved with the experience with Marrokal Design & Remodeling,” Marrokal said. “I’m on the Design side of the business and I can say that even my compulsively-high expectations were exceeded when it came to our “build” team!”

Davies’ approach in designing his home was especially focused on the application of green building materials, energy efficiency and keeping with the original spirit of the bungalow with a raised foundation. Engineering was extensive and called for a massive, oversized perimeter foundation. “In a big earthquake, I know where I want to be! This place is going no where,” Davies said.