A few months ago I told you how my wife and I had found a midcentury remodel project only a couple blocks away from where we currently live. We wanted to create a “lean home”—smaller with a simple layout, less storage space, and as few walls and doors as possible to optimize flow. The remodel has the ideal bones, with a single level, open layout, and a dramatic location perched on a hill overlooking the Morro Bay estuary and Pacific Ocean.

We drew up plans for the remodel that included removing many unnecessary storage cabinets, completely gutting and replacing the bathrooms, new and fewer doors, retiling the fireplace, all new appliances, and removing multiple layers of pink flowery wallpaper. To take advantage of the incredible views, we decided to replace all the windows on the ocean-facing side with huge floor-to-ceiling behemoths custom made by our good lean friends at Pella. We also had to stabilize and level the hillside foundation with six caissons to bedrock because during the past 50 years, the house had slipped a couple inches. We also did a complete plumbing repipe.

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