This re-working of a 1970s coastal house is the product of generous resourcing. The architect has cleverly held on to some of the existing building and worked it into the new ensemble, lending it a sense of time and place and a pleasing humility. This is seen also in the ease of space planning; the family can be together or apart, yet are almost always aware of each other. It is its subtle touches, which can’t be photographed, that lift this house above the photogenic.