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Leonie Walker and her wife Kate O'Hanlan moved into their Portola Valley home in 1991 and worked with Harrell Remodeling on a series of projects, renovating almost the entire house.

However, about three years ago they realized that with no basement or attic, and with closets crammed with ski and scuba equipment, they had completely run out of storage space.

"We had also accumulated a lot of wine on our travels, and I needed storage for my small business as well," Walker says.

The house was built into the side of a hill and sat on a concrete slab. There was a small space under the house -- damp, dark and bounded by rock that Walker jerry-rigged for storage, but it was inadequate.

Ultimately, they called Harrell back and created a 400-square-foot room that adjoins their downstairs family room.

"We decided that we would dig out as much as possible," Walker says. "We always look at the current value of the home and never spend more than we think we could recoup. We've never regretted doing the most we could manage."

The new room features an entire wall of melamine-faced closets customized to accommodate storage containers. It also houses two Danby wine coolers.

"We would have gotten Sub-Zero refrigerators, but we were limited to this size because of the 7-foot ceilings," she says. "It would have been preferable to have shelves that can be adjusted because not all wine bottles are the same size."

The T-shaped room provides a workbench area as well as space for exercise equipment. A utility room, with furnace, water heater, electrical panel and telephone and electronic system is tucked behind a door.

"We had to relocate all the duct work, but also wanted the ceiling to be a reasonable height," designer Genie Nowicki says, adding that she is very proud of managing to conceal all the ducts and structural support beams in the ceiling soffits.

As with any basement, one of the challenges was providing for proper drainage. "We used French drains (ditches covered with rock or gravel, which control water flow) to eliminate any water coming towards the house," she says. "We also used smart vents which activate fans when the moisture inside exceeds the outside levels. A vapor barrier provides added insurance.

"If rats cannot gnaw through they burrow," she says. So they poured a layer of concrete around the perimeter of the basement.

"Since the house is located at the end of a cul-de-sac, the fire department was not happy with our blocking access with trucks," Nowicki says. "We set up a series of conveyor belts which ferried excavation as well as concrete from the site to trucks in the driveway, thus avoiding using the street."

A Trex (recycled plastic) deck outside the room was expanded so that it can now house Walker's bike, the recycling bins and the like.

"We also created a discrete secondary entrance by the side of the house," Nowicki says. This, combined with the fact that the room is connected to the central-heating system and has a nearby bathroom, creates a safety blanket for aging in place.

"It was important to me that the room not look like a basement," Nowicki says. So she took pains to choose a vinyl flooring that looks like tile, as well as laminate counters that resemble slab granite, stainless-steel pulls that match those on the refrigerators, as well as designer colors for walls.

The room also benefits from natural light provided by windows at either end of the space.

Resources:
Design/build: Genie Nowicki, Harrell Remodeling, Mountain View, 650 230-2927

Goal of project:
Create a storage area

Unanticipated issues:
Had to install elaborate pulley system to satisfy fire department requirements not to block street access

Year house built:
1977

Size of home (with basement):
3,300 sq ft

Time to complete:
About a year

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