Recognizing the best features of a house and incorporating them into a remodeling project are likely predictors of a successful outcome.

This property had originally been designed in a Japanese style both inside and out, with landscaped gardens featuring koi ponds and bamboo groves. However, the house itself was due for renovation, with a new master bedroom and bathroom  being the first stage of the project. Designer Clay Aurell of AB Design says the owners‘ brief to him was to remodel this wing of the house in keeping with the Japanese style of the existing house, to respond sympathetically to the gardens, and to provide views of the mountains in the distance.

“Their vision was to have a new master suite that captured the tranquil outlook and provided a spa-like experience,” he says. New doors and windows were added to open up the wall overlooking the deck and gardens. The deck was extended, and a hot tub that overhangs a small stream and waterfall was integrated into it. “Inside, the space available for the bathroom was quite small, so we had to rely on a few clever tricks with the vanity and shower to create a sense of expansiveness,” says the designer.

The owners had already seen the bathtub they wanted, so this became the focus. Tucked across one end of the room, below a large window, it looks across the garden to distant mountains. A drainage trough on three sides is filled with small stones. Because the bathroom is narrow, the vanity is shallower than a traditional vanity. It has wallmounted faucets over two long, narrow basins that run left to right to save space, and a shelf instead of cupboards or drawers below the vanity, which helps create an open appearance. The shower opposite is also long rather than deep, so the enclosure has floor-to-ceiling glass on two sides to maintain the sense of space. Storage is also cleverly detailed, with the mirror above the vanity concealing a recessed medicine cabinet, and additional space provided by a tall cabinet in the toilet. “These devices help the bathroom to feel more spacious than it is dimensionally,” says Aurell. Materials reflecting the surrounding gardens and the Japanese style include a bamboo floor in the bedroom, a smooth pebble floor in the bathroom, a teak vanity, shower base, bath surround and shelving, and pocket shoji screens between the bedroom and bathroom.