A Modest Bungalow With a Surprisingly Big Story

Built for an Everyday Santa Barbara Family

The bungalow was constructed in 1923 for William Laskey, a local tailor who reportedly acted as his own contractor and hired day laborers. The original construction cost was approximately $3,500, even then an economical price for a home in such a desirable location.

Its site was one of its greatest assets. Positioned on a knoll near downtown Santa Barbara, the house offered a broad front porch and a view toward the mountains. It was close enough to the center of town for convenience but tucked into a quiet residential neighborhood. In real estate language, that translates to “location, location, and please do not ruin the porch.”

Susan and David Dickinson bought the property in 1983. It had been rented for years and clearly needed repairs, but its setting and architectural personality were difficult to resist. When their family grew, the compact floor plan became less charming and more like an ongoing game of human Tetris.

During Season 9, the This Old House team followed the effort to create a second-floor primary suite while improving the structure and preserving the bungalow’s street-facing character.

The Attic That Started the Conversation

The original house included a pull-down ladder leading to a partly finished attic. The space was not ready to become a legal bedroom simply because someone could stand in it without bumping their head. Its joists were too light to support a complete second floor, and access was hardly convenient for anyone carrying laundry, a sleepy child, or a cup of coffee.

Still, the attic revealed an opportunity. Instead of expanding outward and consuming valuable yard space, the owners could potentially build upward. The plan called for a proper staircase and a new primary bedroom, bathroom, walk-in closet, and storage area upstairs. Moving the adults’ suite to the second floor would free space below for the family’s changing needs.

What Makes the Santa Barbara Bungalow a Craftsman Home?

A Welcoming, Low-Slung Exterior

Craftsman architecture grew from the American Arts and Crafts movement, which favored honest materials, visible workmanship, practical layouts, and a close relationship between the house and its setting. Rather than hiding every structural element, Craftsman buildings often turned rafters, beams, brackets, and joinery into part of the decoration.

The Santa Barbara house displayed several recognizable Craftsman bungalow features:

• A broad front porch recessed beneath the main roof
• A centered front entrance flanked by wide windows
• Low, clipped roof gables
• Horizontal proportions that made the home feel grounded
• Built-in interior woodwork arranged around the fireplace

These were not random vintage flourishes. The porch softened the boundary between indoors and outdoors, while the wide windows brought daylight into the principal rooms. The roof and trim created visual shelter, helping the small house appear settled comfortably into its site rather than dropped onto it by helicopter.

Santa Barbara’s official architectural guidance identifies Craftsman homes as an important part of the city’s historic residential landscape. Similar bungalows commonly use broad gables, deep porches, natural materials, substantial supports, and carefully expressed construction details.

Built-Ins That Earn Their Keep

Inside the bungalow, glass-fronted bookcases flanked a central fireplace. This arrangement gave the living room a clear focal point while providing storage without requiring several bulky cabinets.

Built-ins are one reason Craftsman interiors continue to feel practical. A window seat can hide blankets. A dining-room buffet can hold dishes. Shelving can frame a doorway or fireplace while making an ordinary wall useful. In a smaller home, furniture that is permanently on duty deserves a medalor at least a fresh coat of finish.

The Renovation Had to Begin Below the Floor

A Beautiful House Still Needs a Reliable Foundation

The most urgent problem was not upstairs. It was underneath the bungalow.

According to the project record, some older local foundations were made with concrete containing beach sand. Salt in the sand contributed to deterioration over time, leaving the Dickinson house with inadequate support. Adding a second story to a weak foundation would have been like putting a grand piano on a folding card table and hoping everyone remained polite.

The construction team lifted portions of the house, excavated below it, and installed substantial new foundation work before proceeding with the addition. This phase was expensive, disruptive, and largely invisible in the final beauty shots. It was also essential.

Modern seismic guidance continues to emphasize the vulnerabilities of older wood-frame California homes. Foundation anchorage and the bracing of short crawl-space walls can reduce the risk of a house sliding or toppling from its support during an earthquake. Local historic-building regulations also recognize the need to balance preservation with reasonable protection from seismic, fire, and other hazards.

Why Structural Investigation Comes First

The Santa Barbara Bungalow offers a valuable lesson for anyone buying an older house: decorative condition and structural condition are not the same thing.

A charming fireplace, original windows, and polished floors can distract from foundation cracks, undersized framing, outdated wiring, drainage problems, or failing plumbing. Before designing a major addition, owners should understand what is supporting the existing building and whether it can safely carry new loads.

A proper investigation may involve an architect, structural engineer, contractor, electrician, plumber, and pest inspector. That sounds like a crowded house party, except everyone arrives with measuring devices and expensive opinions. The information they provide, however, helps prevent far more expensive surprises later.

Adding a Second Floor Without Overwhelming the Original House

A Dormer Designed to Stay Out of Sight

Once the bungalow was securely supported, the roof could be opened and the new upper level framed. The design used a shed dormer positioned so the addition remained largely invisible from the street.

This was a crucial decision. Many poorly planned second-story additions make the original house appear to be carrying an oversized box on its back. The Santa Barbara solution protected the scale of the front elevation and allowed the familiar roofline to remain visually dominant.

Preservation does not always require freezing a building at one moment in time. A home can evolve, especially when the new work is compatible, subordinate, and carefully placed. The goal is not to pretend the addition never happened. It is to prevent the addition from shouting over everything that came before it.

A Primary Suite With Light and Outdoor Access

The completed second floor included a bedroom, bathroom, walk-in closet, and storage. French doors opened to a balcony, providing daylight, ventilation, and a stronger connection to Santa Barbara’s mild coastal setting.

The expanded house also gained an Arts and Crafts-inspired pergola, a rear deck, and improved outdoor areas. These features extended daily living beyond the interior walls without demanding an enormous enclosed addition.

Later Santa Barbara bungalow renovations continue to use similar ideas. Designers often combine compact open living spaces, warm neutral colors, organic textures, efficient kitchens, fireplaces, decks, and alfresco dining areas. The details may look more contemporary, but the basic objective remains the same: create a home that feels relaxed, useful, and connected to the landscape.

When Renovation Meets Weather

No renovation story is complete without at least one moment when everyone stares at the ceiling and says something that cannot be repeated on public television.

During construction, severe thunderstorms arrived while the second floor was being framed. Water passed through the protective covering and damaged ceilings on the first floor. The incident demonstrated how vulnerable a house becomes once its roof has been removed, even when crews use temporary tarps and monitor the forecast.

This kind of setback can affect framing, insulation, plaster, electrical components, flooring, and scheduling. It may also introduce moisture that must be thoroughly dried before surfaces are closed. Rushing ahead can trap water inside assemblies, where it may later encourage mold or deterioration.

The practical lesson is simple: exterior openings should be exposed for the shortest feasible period, temporary protection should be secured and inspected, and the project schedule should include contingency time. Nature is not impressed by a construction calendar.

Why the Television Project Still Matters

It Showed the Unphotogenic Parts of Remodeling

Home renovation is often presented as a cheerful sequence of paint swatches followed by a reveal. The Santa Barbara project showed that successful preservation requires engineering, demolition, excavation, framing, weather protection, and repeated problem-solving.

The six-part television project introduced viewers to Santa Barbara’s regional architecture, reviewed the homeowners’ plans, and even included a visit to the Gamble House in Pasadena. Designed by Charles and Henry Greene in 1908, the Gamble House is internationally recognized as a masterpiece of the American Arts and Crafts movement. That comparison helped place the modest Dickinson bungalow within a larger design tradition rather than treating it as merely an old small house.

It Respected an Ordinary Historic Home

The bungalow was not a palace, celebrity estate, or museum. It was a family house built economically by a working tradesman. That is part of its importance.

Historic value is not limited to monumental buildings. Neighborhood houses reveal how people lived, built, adapted, and formed communities. Santa Barbara recognizes significant collections of Craftsman bungalows alongside its better-known Spanish Colonial Revival landmarks. Together, these buildings show that the city’s architectural history is more varied than white stucco and red tile alone.

The Bungalow Within Santa Barbara’s Architectural Identity

Craftsman Character in a Spanish Revival City

Santa Barbara is famous for Spanish Colonial Revival architecture: white stucco walls, red clay roof tiles, arches, courtyards, decorative tile, and heavy wood beams. Much of that visual identity was strengthened after the destructive 1925 earthquake, when civic leaders embraced Spanish-inspired reconstruction.

The Craftsman bungalow belongs to a slightly earlier and parallel chapter. Many examples were constructed during the first decades of the twentieth century, before Spanish Revival architecture became the dominant public image of the city.

The result is a richer streetscape than visitors may expect. Victorian residences, Craftsman cottages, adobe buildings, Mediterranean Revival structures, and modern homes coexist across different neighborhoods. The city is not an architectural theme park assembled from identical clay roof tiles, even if some postcards try their best to suggest otherwise.

The 1925 earthquake heavily damaged Santa Barbara’s commercial center and accelerated the coordinated use of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. Historic sources nevertheless document an extensive collection of Craftsman houses within the city’s residential districts.

Designed for California Living

Both Craftsman and Spanish Revival houses respond well to Southern California’s climate. Deep overhangs provide shade. Porches and courtyards create transitional outdoor rooms. Windows and doors support natural ventilation. Local landscaping can soften hard surfaces while framing views of mountains, gardens, or the coast.

The Santa Barbara Bungalow used these advantages before “indoor-outdoor living” became a phrase attached to every luxury listing with a sliding door. Its porch, balcony, pergola, and deck made exterior space part of everyday life rather than an ornamental area reserved for special occasions.

Design Lessons for Renovating a Historic Bungalow Today

1. Identify the Features That Give the House Its Character

Before changing the floor plan, list the elements that make the property recognizable. These might include its porch, roof shape, exposed rafters, original windows, fireplace, built-ins, trim, siding, or relationship to the street.

Not every old component must remain untouched. Some materials may be damaged, inefficient, or unsafe. However, identifying important features helps the design team decide what to repair, reproduce, relocate, or reinterpret.

2. Put New Space Where It Causes the Least Harm

The Santa Barbara project expanded into the attic and used a discreet rear dormer. Other homes may benefit from a rear addition, a converted garage, a carefully placed accessory dwelling unit, or a small bump-out.

The best location depends on the lot, structure, zoning rules, historic status, and family needs. More square footage is not automatically better. A focused 300-square-foot addition can improve daily life more than an enormous room nobody knows how to furnish.

3. Keep New Work Compatible Without Creating a Fake Antique

A successful addition should relate to the original home through scale, proportion, roof geometry, window rhythm, and materials. It does not need artificial aging or decorative details copied without understanding.

Compatibility is different from imitation. A modern bathroom can belong in a Craftsman bungalow when its colors, textures, and proportions support the house. There is no requirement to install a claw-foot tub simply because the building is oldespecially when nobody enjoys climbing into one before coffee.

4. Treat Outdoor Space as Functional Square Footage

Porches, decks, balconies, and pergolas can provide dining, reading, entertaining, and play areas at a lower visual cost than fully enclosed rooms. They also preserve the relationship between a California bungalow and its landscape.

Outdoor additions should still be designed carefully. Shade, drainage, privacy, fire safety, maintenance, lighting, and furniture storage all matter. A deck that becomes dangerously hot by noon is less an outdoor room and more a large wooden griddle.

5. Plan for Modern Systems Early

Older houses often need electrical upgrades, new plumbing, insulation, heating and cooling improvements, fire-resistant details, and seismic work. These systems require space. Mechanical routes should be coordinated before walls, cabinets, and decorative finishes are installed.

It is far easier to reserve a pathway for ductwork during design than to discover later that the only available route passes through the middle of a beautifully restored built-in bookcase.

Experiencing the Santa Barbara Bungalow: What This Kind of Home Feels Like

The Porch Changes the Way You Arrive

Imagine approaching the bungalow on a mild Santa Barbara morning. You do not step directly from the sidewalk into the living room. The porch creates a pause. It gives you a moment to look toward the mountains, set down a grocery bag, greet a neighbor, or search every pocket for keys that were definitely in your hand ten seconds ago.

That transition makes the house feel more generous than its dimensions suggest. The porch is neither completely public nor fully private. It belongs to the home, but it also participates in the street. In an era of sealed garages and remote-controlled gates, that small social space feels almost radical.

Natural Materials Make Small Rooms Feel Richer

Inside, the appeal comes from proportion and texture rather than sheer size. Wood trim, built-in cabinets, divided windows, and a central fireplace give the living room structure. You notice where objects belong. Books settle into the cabinets. Chairs gather around the hearth. Morning light moves across the floor instead of disappearing into an enormous open room.

A bungalow rewards deliberate furnishing. Oversized sofas can quickly make it feel crowded, while smaller upholstered pieces, vintage tables, woven textiles, and simple lighting preserve breathing room. The goal is not to create a museum display. A home should tolerate shoes by the door, a blanket on the sofa, and a coffee table temporarily occupied by three remote controls and an unopened piece of mail.

The Upstairs Suite Creates Privacy Without Isolation

Moving the primary suite upstairs changes the emotional organization of the house. The main floor remains active and family-oriented, while the upper level becomes a quieter retreat. French doors and a balcony prevent the new suite from feeling like a converted storage loft.

From the upper floor, the experience of the site also changes. Views become more prominent, air circulates differently, and the neighborhood feels both close and removed. It is easy to understand why the attic inspired the renovation. The house already contained the possibility of a more private level; the project simply had to make that possibility structurally real.

Living Through the Renovation Would Test Anyone’s Patience

The finished bungalow may feel effortless, but the construction process certainly did not. Foundation work involves noise, excavation, dust, temporary supports, and the unsettling sight of a house being lifted from the ground. Opening the roof introduces another level of anxiety, especially when rain arrives.

Homeowners undertaking a comparable project would need to make hundreds of decisions while managing costs and disruption. A simple question about a bathroom faucet could turn into a discussion about water pressure, wall framing, supply delays, finish compatibility, and whether the plumber has quietly left for another job.

Yet the difficult phases create improvements that are felt every day. A safe foundation does not attract compliments at dinner, but it supports every dinner. Better storage reduces clutter. A functional staircase makes an entire floor usable. Thoughtful windows improve daylight from breakfast until sunset.

The Best Moment Is When the House Still Feels Familiar

The true success of a historic renovation appears when the project is complete and the home does not feel replaced. The rooms function better, the structure is stronger, and the family has more space, yet the porch, roofline, fireplace, and cozy proportions still tell the original story.

That is the experience the Santa Barbara Bungalow represents. It demonstrates that old houses do not have to choose between preservation and practical life. They can accept new bathrooms, better foundations, larger kitchens, private suites, and outdoor entertaining areas while retaining their identity.

A thoughtful renovation should feel like the next chapter of the same book. The paper may be newer and a few plot problems may finally be resolved, but the main character remains recognizable.

Conclusion: A Small House With Enduring Renovation Lessons

The Santa Barbara Bungalow is memorable not because it became enormous or extravagantly luxurious. It is memorable because its renovation solved serious problems without sacrificing the house’s essential character.

The project strengthened a deteriorated foundation, transformed an inadequate attic into a useful second floor, created a private primary suite, and expanded outdoor living. At the same time, it protected the broad porch, Craftsman roofline, built-ins, and comfortable relationship between the house and its neighborhood.

For modern homeowners, the message is refreshingly practical: investigate the structure before choosing finishes, add space thoughtfully, respect the original proportions, and let outdoor areas do some of the work. Most importantly, remember that a successful renovation should improve the way a house supports daily lifenot merely improve the way it performs during a five-minute reveal.