Casa Nancina

Project Overview

Casa Nancina was designed by architect Bill Nicholas in collaboration with landscape architect Nancy Goslee Power, and built with uncommon care by contractor Bruce Brown. The result was a house that, decades later, needed remarkably little to be brought into the present — a testament to how well it had been conceived and constructed.

The house hadn't been updated in close to thirty years. Rather than reimagine it, the approach was to restore and refine — honoring the warmth and character of the original while quietly modernizing what needed to change. The existing skylights, which flood both the kitchen and bathroom with natural light, were preserved as the architectural anchors they were always meant to be.

In the kitchen, cream-colored cabinets and walls create a warm, cohesive backdrop, grounded by Taj Mahal quartzite countertops and backsplash and a butcher block island. Playful red trim accents — original to the house — were kept deliberately, giving the space personality and continuity with its past.

The bathroom was refreshed throughout, with updated fixtures and a full conversion from tub to a glass-enclosed shower — clean and considered without erasing what was already working.

Schematic design, design development, construction documents, construction administration, and project management were handled by Oliver Power Studio.