Standing near a baby grand piano on the subterranean level of his house in Corona del Mar, Mark Binder recalled the basement of his boyhood home in the hamlet of Dix Hills, N.Y., on Long Island. “It ...

Basements tend not to be the most celebrated of spaces in the home. Even the dictionary.com definition—“a story of a building, partly or wholly underground”—is decidedly drab. Generally comprising ...

MENLO PARK — When architect Roger Kohler began designing them years ago, basements weren’t luxury statements. He would tuck a subterranean guest room here, a mechanical room there. The lighting was ...