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Rear of the renovated house.

Not-So-
Not-So- Photos © Ty Cole, except as noted

Bungalow
Bungalow

A Modest House

Breaks Out of its Shell
Front of the house.
by Deane Madsen, Assoc. AIA

For Wakako Tokunaga, AIA, LEED AP, an architect who trained with
Japanese alternative-materials guru Shigeru Ban, Hon. FAIA, and Washington’s
own residential architecture maven, Suzane Reatig, FAIA, the renovation of
a Takoma Park bungalow was a welcome opportunity to merge distinct
architectural eras, and to fuse her Japanese and American influences. From
the street, the house still appears to be a typical 1920s structure. Inside, old
gives way to new, culminating in a decidedly contemporary addition that
transforms the house, in Tokunaga’s mind, into a “not-so-bungalow.”
Tokunaga, who runs Wakako Tokunaga Architecture out of her home
office, met her clients at their children’s pre-school. They had bought the
house based on the charm of its nearly century-old base building, but
quickly found that an earlier addition constructed by the previous owner
was both too cramped and too dark for their needs. And one of the main Rear of the house before renovation.

26 NOT-SO-BUNGALOW