Some might say – don’t tamper with a John Lautner house, but the new owner, a longtime, passionate swimmer, wanted to add an indoor pool to this classic modernist beach home. Thus began a significant addition and interior remodel project where the great challenge lay in balancing client goals with the spirit of the original architect’s creation.
We replaced an awkward 1990’s addition, incongruent with the original Lautner residence, with a new indoor swimming pool that was designed to be largely indistinguishable to Lautner’s building. The new state-of-the-art, wake-free lap-pool is surrounded by retractable glazing which lets in natural light, and the ocean’s smells and sounds, blurring the boundaries between sea, house, and sky.
Throughout the house, we worked around Lautner’s avant-garde engineering and sculptural applications of wood and concrete to carefully repurpose spaces to suit the client’s needs. Our changes included a new media room, enlarged bedrooms, and home office. A stunning chef’s kitchen - detailed down to the owner’s cooking utensils - forms the core of the house’s open living and entertainment space. Now, the client says, the house, “breathes with me.”
Photo Credit: Roger Davies