Before & After: In the East Bay, a Tumbledown Midcentury Turns Over a New Leaf

A little less than a decade ago, Regan Baker’s eponymous design firm was on the rise and her work was featured in the San Francisco Decorator Showcase. At the event, she met a couple who hired her to renovate their home in the city—and their synergy was so strong that Baker offered the wife a position at her firm. "It was a role she held for seven years, and I loved getting to know her family," Baker says.

Before: Exterior

After: Exterior

Eventually, the wife left to start her own consulting business, which complemented her husband’s position in construction management. In the midst of this shift, they also decided to make their next move as a family—they had two young kids, and their square footage was feeling smaller by the day.

The family began exploring an addition to their San Francisco home while the wife was working at Regan Baker Design—but as they were visiting relatives in the husband’s hometown of Piedmont, just across the bay, they spotted a run-down midcentury property for sale. As their two kids slept in the back seat, the couple took turns touring it. They eventually purchased the property, and in the process of designing the home, the couple found out that they had a third child on the way.

Before: Living Area