Gutted modern becomes bright contemporary

The midcentury-modern style has become so popular about the land (apparently permanently so) that it’s difficult to approach remodeling an original. How much to keep? How much to replicate? How much is made of asbestos? That sort of thing.

Or you could just take the approach of the remodelers of this South Manchaca home—just make it a brand-new house. This approach is particularly helpful when there’s not much worth saving, which was apparently the case with the original 1962 home, and affords an opportunity to create the kind of open, bright contemporary buyers are fond of while still retaining hints of the house’s origins.

In the case of this 2,403-square-foot home, that means fronting with a single, angled roof over the porch and horizontal foyer that echoes it below, so that the home presents as a little space-age. The majority of the home behind it, which has four bedrooms and three bathrooms, transitions to a more traditional peaked roof with vaulted ceilings that allow the public areas to feel open and large.

• 1708 Fair Oaks Drive [Strub Residential]