Labor-of-Love House Rescue: Two Designers Revive a 1975 Ruin in Gainesville, Florida

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Skylights galore, textured walls, solariums, and terracotta-tiled floors. Midcentury fans, are you ready to broaden your vocabularly and embrace the 1970s? Designers Andrew Deming and Rachel Gant are. The couple, now parents of a three-year-old, met as students at California College of the Arts in San Francisco and for years ran Yield, a workshop celebrated for its ceramic and glass French presses and other housewares.

Along the way, they relocated to St. Augustine, Florida, where Andrew grew up and started rehabbing houses, including their own Whole-House Overhaul for $15,000 in 2017. They’ve since sold Yield to Pattern Brands and launched Citra, their busy real estate design and development studio. A weekend getaway to Gainesville, an hour-and-a-half inland, led them to a period property that Andrew spotted on a late-night Zillow search.

“We connected directly with the owner, who had grown up in the 1975 house. He gave us a tour, revealing a stunningly beautiful design in a dramatic wooded landscape—yet in a tragic state of disrepair,” Andrew tells us. “Our initial reaction was, NO way.” But fearing what might happen to it in someone else’s hands, they returned the next day: “We couldn’t unsee its potential. By that evening, we had it under contract.” They even negotiated to keep the furnishings and design objects in situ. Join us for a look at the project a year and a half later, respectfully restored and also updated by the designers—and now solid enough to remain standing well into the next century.

Photography by Rachel Gant, courtesy of Citra (@citra_collection).

the house was designed by the architect owner jill lebowitz in collaboration wi 17 — Above: The house was designed by the architect owner Jill Lebowitz in collaboration with recent University of Florida architecture grad Stewart Smith and an unnamed friend of his. Jill and her dentist husband, Martin, raised their family here—Rachel and Andrew are only its second owners.

The structure had been unlived-in for years and was leaking and rotting all over (scroll to the end for a glimpse). As Rachel says, “water was intruding from nearly every direction, the living room ceiling was collapsing, and a massive tarp covered the roof and chimney.” But it was largely untouched and had many winning elements, including an attached atrium that led Andrew and Rachel to dub it The Greenhouse.

It now has, among many other things, rebuilt elevated walkways and decks, repaired cedar siding carefully stained “to bring the new and old together,” a standing-seam metal roof, and several replaced outsized skylights.

enter through the greenhouse. &#8\2\20;located at the east end of the house 18 — Above: Enter through the greenhouse. “Located at the east end of the house, the greenhouse is one of its most striking features,” says Andrew. “The entire house, but especially this space, bore the imprint of a pioneering young architect working with far fewer constraints than building codes now allow. With its sharp rooflines, cedar siding, and integrated greenhouse, the house embodies a distinctly 1970s aesthetic reminiscent of the Sea Ranch style in its relationship to nature and use of natural materials.”

&#8\2\20;deciding how to approach this space was one of our biggest challen 19 — Above: “Deciding how to approach this space was one of our biggest challenges,” continues Andrew. “We wanted to embrace its rustic character and leave it as-is. But with floor-to-ceiling plate glass framed in rotting wood, it was structurally unsound and dangerously outdated. Our solution balanced preservation with safety.”

“Rather than altering the design, we built an entirely new structural framework from the exterior, reinforcing the building while maintaining the original glass footprint. This improved the integrity of the space without compromising the window sizing, allowing us to retain the openness and light that made it so special in the first place.”

the complex construction process required a temporary wood scaffolding structur 20 — Above: The complex construction process required a temporary wood scaffolding structure on both sides of the greenhouse; ladders suspended over the glass allowed carpenters to complete their work before the roofers stepped in to reseat and seal all of the glass.

It’s now hung with a Korean patchwork pojagi found on Etsy and furnished with pieces original to the house. The saucer-shaped glass pendant lights are from CB2.

the designers preserved the sunken living room—that&#8\2\17;s its or 21 — Above: The designers preserved the sunken living room—that’s its original baby grand piano and reupholstered sectional sofa—and mezzanine. An eight-foot Noguchi light now hangs from the entirely replaced tongue-and-groove wood ceiling.

The floor had been stripped of its carpeting and was only subfloor; it’s now finished with Cotto Nature in Gloss Sicilia tiles from Bedrosians. The designers are going to add a stair rail as a safety measure.

the living room steps are newly widened and clad in custom cut terrazzo slabs, 22 — Above: The living room steps are newly widened and clad in custom-cut terrazzo slabs, which extend to the restored fireplace and bench.

Cotton Sheets, a warm white from Behr paint, was used throughout the house to contrast with the dark tones and keep the interior bright. The textured walls were preserved: “In the past, we’ve always skim-coated over them, but, here we appreciated the texture,” says Andrew. “They read more like plaster than the typical knockdown drywall that’s now a common shortcut.” (Read our story on how to get rid of the latter.)

andrew and rachel describe themselves as designers and entrepreneurs—she 23 — Above: Andrew and Rachel describe themselves as designers and entrepreneurs—she studied architecture and industrial design; he majored in graphic design and earned an MBA in design strategy from California College of the Arts. They share a passion for “reimagining neglected spaces” and have many projects, including vacation rentals, in Saint Augustine, Florida.

&#8\2\20;though modest in size, the kitchen featured beautiful custom cabin 24 — Above: “Though modest in size, the kitchen featured beautiful custom cabinetry and shelving that we were intent on preserving,” says Andrew. “We embraced its compact footprint, focusing on efficiency, but struggled with how dark and enclosed it felt. The walls were covered in basic white pegboard and the countertops were first-generation Corian. To open up the space, we removed the pegboard and cut into the wall between the counters and upper cabinets, creating a passthrough to the dining room. This single change dramatically improved both the natural light and the sense of openness.”

&#8\2\20;while we kept as much as we could, we also took on many new projec 25 — Above: “While we kept as much as we could, we also took on many new projects to expand upon the original design,” notes Rachel, who designed the long, narrow island. Carpenter/maker Ben Whitson, the couple’s friend and collaborator, built this addition finished, as is the wall, with Zia Tile zellige.

ben whitson custom made the half bath&#8\2\17;s concrete tiles embedded wit 26 — Above: Ben Whitson custom-made the half bath’s concrete tiles embedded with shells and sea glass. The open shelving is original.

Rachel reports that after an intensive online search for the right mirror, she found this one “amid a jumble of things in the house.” They sourced the glass basin on Build.com. The sconce is a 1960s Murano glass designed by Carlo Nason.

the mezzanine houses the main bedroom, and there are three bedrooms downstairs. 27 — Above: The mezzanine houses the main bedroom, and there are three bedrooms downstairs.

&#8\2\20;despite a soaring roofline that peaked at sixteen feet, the primar 28 — Above: “Despite a soaring roofline that peaked at sixteen feet, the primary bedroom’s ceiling was eight feet with an inaccessible attic above,” explains Andrew. “We reframed the ceiling to capture the full height of the space, adding insulation to the underside of the roof assembly. What had been a dark, compressed space became bright, airy, and expansive.”

The Cotto Nature tiles are the same as the ones in the living room.

the en suite bathroom has new stainless steel sinks and faucets from build . th 29 — Above: The en suite bathroom has new stainless steel sinks and faucets from Build.com. The drawers are Sektion Maximera from Ikea’s Noksta series, typically used in kitchens–Andrew notes he and Rachel built the vanity themselves and “installed the plumbing in a way that fully clears the drawers.”

The Nepalese handmade paper lantern embedded with bougainvillea is an Etsy purchase from Namaste London Crafts.

1975 gainesville greenhouse resurrection in gainesville, florida, by citra coll 30 Above: “The en-suite bathroom was mid-renovation and left torn apart by the previous owners,” says Rachel. “We put it on hold while we repiped the entire house and refined our plans. Its most striking feature, a ceiling composed of two large glass skylights, set the stage for a dramatic space.” But the skylights had to be replaced, and despite their crew’s campaign to reduce their size, Andrew and Rachel used laminated glazing to “maintain the original feel.”

They also introduced a “Roman-style tub” and tiled the entire space in Mexican terracotta. Their goal when introducing new elements to the house was to “create something that felt as if it was meant to be.”