Burlingame’s Residential Design Guidebook asks that any exterior change be in conversation with the home’s own style and the character of its neighborhood (City of Burlingame Residential Design Guidebook). For this project on Occidental Avenue in Burlingame Park, I am working from the record and listing description of a five-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath house, newly built in 2026 and finished in stone veneer, stucco, and horizontal siding. The house stands on a flat 7,577 square foot lot with a well-drained Orthents, cut and fill-Urban land complex soil, and sits within FEMA flood zone X, with minimal flood and wildfire risk, and inside a state seismic hazard zone for liquefaction.
Opening the wall between the kitchen and family room
The plan centers on removing the wall that now separates the kitchen’s island and pantry from the family room’s fireplace. In this house, the kitchen already features an island, an exhaust fan, and a pantry, while the family room has a fireplace as a focal point. The wall in question divides the two rooms on the main floor of this two-story structure. Given the home’s construction, concrete perimeter foundation, two stories, and a composition shingle roof with pitched gables, this wall likely carries floor or roof loads. Its structural role depends on how the framing above is organized, which is typical for a house of this type and era.
Once the wall is removed, a beam will need to span the opening. If the framing above allows, a flush header would keep the ceiling line continuous between kitchen and family room; if not, a dropped beam would create a visible transition. The ceiling finish and lighting layout in both rooms will follow the beam’s placement. The kitchen’s existing exhaust fan and island location mean the cooking wall should remain in place, avoiding the need to route a new hood vent across the newly open space. This approach also keeps the sink and plumbing close to their current location, minimizing changes to the concrete perimeter foundation and reducing the risk of floor patching.
The house is equipped with central forced-air heating and cooling, so opening the wall will change airflow patterns as well as sightlines. Supply and return registers in the kitchen and family room must be mapped and possibly relocated to maintain balanced heating and cooling after the rooms are joined. The electrical service, already supporting a detached garage with an electric car hookup, must be checked for capacity if the kitchen is upgraded with induction cooking. The City of Burlingame’s 2022 Reach Code no longer enforces a gas ban due to federal preemption, but the city still encourages all-electric appliances in new construction (City of Burlingame Reach Codes). For this house, I would recommend induction for the range, but the choice is guided by the home’s electrical panel and available circuits.
The kitchen and family room floors must be examined for level and finish where the wall comes out. If the materials differ, the transition should be made flush and intentional, not left as a patch. The family room fireplace remains a visual anchor, while the kitchen island becomes a hub for homework and casual meals. If the family includes a dog, a bed can be placed along the new open route, away from the main cooking and walking path.
The entry, facade, and landscape
The front porch of this house is a modest, covered entry set between stone veneer columns, with dark-framed windows and a paved stone walkway. The drought-tolerant landscaping and wood side fences reflect both the lot’s full sun exposure and the local climate, which sees seven days above 85° this year and is projected to reach sixteen such days in thirty years. The existing landscaping is practical for Burlingame’s Title 24 climate zone 3 and the well-drained soils of this lot. I would add more greenery and height variation to the planting beds, and consider expanding the porch to create space for seating or planters, making the entry more welcoming. Additional accent lighting at the entry would highlight the stone and stucco materials, and a lighter window frame or new front door color could soften the strong contrast of the current dark trim.
The house’s symmetrical facade and stacked windows are consistent with the modern transitional style found in upscale Burlingame neighborhoods. While 76 percent of homes closing in Burlingame in the twelve months to November 2026 were built before 1960, this house’s 2026 construction and mixed-materials facade set it apart (Redfin Burlingame sold data). For this reason, I would avoid adding period details from the 1930s or 1940s and focus on refining the contemporary entry and landscaping.
If your Burlingame Park home, like this one, keeps the kitchen and family room apart, and you want to open the wall while working with the structure, services and finishes already present, contact me to plan your remodel.
