Streng Atrium Homes — Bringing the Outside, Inside

Bringing the outside, inside is a distinguishing feature of mid century homes. The atrium model of Streng homes literally brings the outside into the home.

A Streng Brothers Atrium Home with mature plants that have been raised by the original owner for 54 years. Plants include Corn Plant, Monstera Deliciosa, Rubber Plant, Dwarf Umbrella Tree, Ficus and Prayer plant. The wood carvings are orginal Evelyn and Jerome Ackerman wood panels.

Streng Homes architect Carter Sparks designed an atrium topped by a shallow plastic dome larger than a typical skylight and with no walls separating it from the rest of the house.

The effect is a flowing, unbroken space that blends into the open living and kitchen areas.

We have enjoyed seeing how Streng home owners personalize their atriums. Some are jungle-like with plants overflowing every part of the planted atrium and some are at the other end of the spectrum with a minimalist landscape of succulents.

This Streng Bros atrium home in Elk Grove employs a automatic watering system. All Streng Atrium homes are equipped with indoor water spigots in the planter areas.

We spoke with Jason and Robyn Davis who own an atrium Streng home built in 1972 in the South Land Park neighborhood of Sacramento about their experience in planting and maintaining their atrium.

Jason and Robyn bought their home in 2022. Unfortunately, the atrium in the home had been covered up by ceramic tile and bamboo flooring. They have spent the last two years meticulously restoring the atrium, literally bringing it back to life.

Large rocks cover the soil in this Streng Bros Halfplex. The planters in these homes have no bottom so plant roots can grow as deep as they need to.

They discovered that most of the aggregate under the flooring that hadn’t been removed was in good shape but required many hours of stripping away the adhesive (thinset) to expose it. They even discovered remnants of a Koi pond that had been installed by a previous owner.

Here they share some tips for other atrium homeowners or those thinking to purchase one:

Does the large skylight make it hard to cool the house?

Having the skylight in good repair helps keep the heat down in the house. We brought in Abril Roofing to fix our skylight. Now the house is at least 4 degrees cooler. We also keep the doors to the bedrooms closed to keep those rooms cooler.

How did you replace the missing sections of the atrium?

We enlisted Prep Concrete to replace the missing sections and are happy with how they were able to get a close color match to the existing aggregate. The aggregate will need to be sealed every five years to keep it looking nice.

Why did you select redwood bark vs rocks or dirt for ground cover?

The green of the plants really pops against the color of the bark. It feels like you are in a redwood forest.

The exposed aggregate concrete is all cleaned up, original planter areas are restored and new plants have taken root at Robyn and Jason's Streng Bros Atrium home.

How did you know what to plant?

We tracked the sun pattern on a piece of paper so would know the right spot to plant each type of plant. Editor’s note: you can also try out this app to track the sun: sun seeker.

We selected common houseplants from The Plant Foundry and the Fair Oaks Nursery. Right now the areas look sparse as we wait to see how they grow in. We made certain to place the trees where they wouldn’t overwhelm any one area of the atrium.

New plants and redwood bark in Jason and Robyn’s newly restored and planted Atrium.

Did you install a drip system or do you water manually?

We water manually —  we wanted to control the amount of water for each plant.

We think this also helps with any musty smell that you might get with over watering.

What do you like about your atrium?

We love learning about the plants and it makes us really happy to take care of them. It is really peaceful feeling to have brought a bit of outside into our home.

Follow their renovation adventures for more inspiration on Instagram @southlandsparks

Dive a little deeper into Streng Bros Atrium homes with our previous article about replacing the oversized skylights.

Remodeled Streng Atrium Home shows how these homes can work as a contemporary setting.