Completed client project. The owners came to us with a newly built, two-story house in Mattos Ranch, Newman, and wanted the whole home to feel more considered and personal without losing the open layout and efficient features they already had. Built in 2024, the 2,492-square-foot home sat on a 5,967-square-foot lot and had five bedrooms and three baths. Stucco walls, a cement tile roof, stone veneer accents by the attached two-car garage, and a recessed front porch gave it a clear contemporary framework. The main level held the kitchen, dining room, living room, garage, and a partial bath; bedrooms, a loft, full baths, and the laundry room occupied the upper floor. The build year had given the owners strong bones and modern systems, but the restrained exterior and unfinished-feeling transitions left room for a more deliberate finish. The photographs used in the page's project presentation came from the Designed & Curated portfolio and showed finishes, not this house.
The photographs on this page are from the Designed & Curated portfolio and show finishes we have used on other projects. They are not photographs of this house.
The kitchen island and the open main floor
My first question was: what did the owners most want to feel different in the rooms they used every day? Their answer centered on making the connected kitchen, dining, and living spaces feel finished as one, while keeping the kitchen's useful layout. On site, we found the island sink, granite counters, pantry closet, and breakfast area already working together. We kept the island and its plumbing in place, and used finish changes and layered lighting to give the great room a clearer sense of connection. That choice respected the home's new construction and avoided disrupting the existing electric systems, central heating, and central cooling.
We kept the electric range, oven, and cooktop on the perimeter, and left the roof and seller-owned photovoltaic system undisturbed. The cement tile roof was part of the home's established weather protection, not a surface to open for a changed kitchen layout. We specified focused pendant lighting above the island and under-cabinet task lighting, then added dimmable ambient light in the great room and light for the living area. We aimed the fixtures at the work surfaces and seating, rather than at the window glass, so the room gained useful layers without glare.
The recorded floors were vinyl and carpet. We mapped how those surfaces met across the main-level rooms, then specified a continuous warm-gray porcelain tile finish for the kitchen, dining, and living area. We kept carpet in the upstairs bedrooms and loft, where it suited the quieter rooms. Newman's closed-home data showed a median home age of 2004 and a median size of 1,660 square feet on a 6,229-square-foot lot, so we treated this larger, 2024-built house as a project about finishing its own layout rather than importing a standard remodel formula (Redfin Newman sold homes).
The front porch, garage entry, and yard
The attached garage had interior access, and the recessed porch gave the front door shelter beneath the roof extension. We kept the entry route clear and gave the porch and driveway a more welcoming feel with lighting suited to both arrival points. At the front, we worked with the existing young trees, mulch, and auto sprinklers, and added planting beds with drought-tolerant choices to bring more green into the low-maintenance landscape. The lot was flat, with regular dimensions and paved sidewalks, so the entry improvements stayed close to the house rather than changing the basic approach.
We also gave the neutral stucco and stone accents more definition through the finish palette and stronger contrast around the windows and front entry. The existing windows had framed, gridded openings, while the simple shutters and beige façade made the front look quieter than the porch and garage arrangement suggested. We used the entry lighting and planting to add depth, and selected a more distinctive front-door treatment that made the recessed porch easier to read from the walk. Published bathroom projects by Eric Newman showed that bathroom work had also been part of Newman’s design conversation; we treated this house’s existing stone and double-sink baths as finished rooms to refine, rather than spaces that needed wholesale replacement (Bathrooms by Eric Newman, ArchDaily).
The upstairs laundry and the ground-floor conditions
The upper floor placed the bedrooms, loft, and laundry together, and we found the laundry room had electric hookups only. We arranged storage around the machines and kept clear access to the hookups, rather than filling the room with fixed cabinetry. The primary bath already had double sinks, stone surfaces, and a low-flow toilet; the other baths had tub-and-shower combinations and low-flow fixtures. We kept those practical features and coordinated the new finishes with the existing stone.
The FEMA map layer placed the property in flood zone AH, a Special Flood Hazard Area, while the soil survey mapped El Solyo silty clay loam with gentle slopes and rare flooding. That difference made the mapped flood designation important to the ground-floor finish decisions. We checked Newman’s flood information and the construction standards in Municipal Code Section 4.11.170, including the applicable anchoring requirements for new construction and substantial improvements in a Special Flood Hazard Area (Newman Municipal Code, Section 4.11.170; City of Newman flood information).
For the permitted work, Newman’s Building Department required permits and plan review for structural changes and alterations to electrical, plumbing, or mechanical systems. We kept the project within the existing room arrangement and specified the lighting work through the city’s review requirements; the city also described a typical ten-day plan review for projects requiring plan checks, including photovoltaic installations and accessory dwelling units (City of Newman Building Department).
If you are ready to make your home feel more like yours, get in touch.
