The Way We Live

from SLO LIFE Magazine Oct/Nov 2012

by SLO LIFE Magazine

Q&A

PHOTOS BY ELLIOTT JOHNSON

HiP HabitaT

BEFORE AND AFTER

above CURB APPEAL The use of Ipe wood and corrugated metal combined with a drought-tolerant landscape work to bring the HamachiWiseman home up-to-date. top left MODERN STYLING Lime green walls, sophisticated furnishings and a metal stair rail create a relaxed, contemporary living space. bottom left INDUSTRIAL CHIC Stainless steel appliances and backsplash, sleek cabinet handles and a concrete slab countertop make up a beautifully modern kitchen. It was a Thai restaurant in Pismo Beach that brought Tricia Hamachai to San Luis Obispo. In 2003 her father, who was looking to “semi-retire” on the Central Coast decided to start a restaurant. Demand was stronger than expected and the first-time restaurateur became overwhelmed and needed help, so Hamachai took a leave of absence from her employer, a Los Angeles-based architectural firm, to give him a hand. After a few months away, Hamachai began to realize just how much she loved architecture and missed the creativity needed to contribute to the renaissance taking place in downtown Los Angeles where she had specialized in “adaptive reuse” projects. “We would take a dilapidated, old, rundown 1920’s vintage high-rise, for example, and repurpose the upper stories as loft space and the lower level as retail,” she explains. The restaurant had found solid footing and Hamachai returned to the hustle and bustle of the big city, but after her time in Pismo Beach something had changed in her and she had persistent thoughts about the Central Coast that she could not seem to shake. The trips north became more and more frequent, but it was when her daughter, Jade, was set to start preschool that things started to click. Hamachai kept an open mind and started to speculate that “maybe this is where my path is taking me.” A series of serendipitous events then unfolded, which included the establishment of a remote working relationship with her firm that allows for the best of both worlds—she now commutes to Los Angeles once a week to see clients. When the time came in 2007 for Hamachai and her husband, Jason Wiseman, a selfemployed internet marketing specialist, to buy a home they searched for a small scale rehab project. “We wanted a home that had good bones and we found this one, which was originally built in the seventies and was ready for a remodel,” recalls Hamachai, who likens the project to a micro version of what she does in downtown Los Angeles. “I believe in wasting no space because you can really do a lot in small spaces.” The couple started by opening up the interior, mostly by removing the existing low profile walls and installing industrial looking steel rails which allowed for an abundance of light. The brightness allowed for darker flooring, mostly bamboo (their young son, Xavier, finds it perfectly suited for launching stomp rockets down the hallway). Attention to detail is apparent in the kitchen where full-extension drawers, an “appliance garage” and a vent hood are hidden behind cabinet doors. The childrens’ bedrooms closet doors also function as giant blackboards, and a cozy reading nook is found tucked beneath the stairs.

Outside, the split-level home underwent a dramatic transformation when it was covered with Ipe wood, which is a renewable hardwood that is resistant to fire, termites, and dry rot. Add two-tons of corrugated metal to the exterior and it can be difficult to know whether you are in a cutting edge, downtown Los Angeles loft or in a 1970’s-era singlefamily home in Sinsheimer—Hamachai would say that it’s the best of both worlds.