The Carrillo Residence occupies a long narrow site on the rim of
Santa Monica Canyon with distant views of the Pacific Ocean. Designed for a
young couple with two children, the house addresses the formal and informal needs
of the family while taking advantage of the Southern California climate and
views. The orientation of the house reinforces the geometry of the site. A
series of stone masses define the ground floor program while a pristine floating
white box houses the bedroom wings and slides over and past the stone to
gesture towards the canyon and the views.
The glass living room volume sits at the far end of the site adjacent
to the main bar of the house and divides the outdoor space into two distinct
courts. The informal front court provides a protected sun-filled play yard for
the children adjacent to the family zone. The formal rear court comprises an outdoor
dining area, barbecue, and infinity-edge pool and expands toward the view
beyond. The living room and dining room
can be completely opened up to this court by a series of oversized pivot doors.
The large expanses of glass of the living room visually connect the formal and
informal domains and allow for the view to extend through to the canyon beyond.
A custom wood ceiling and custom-stained concrete inside and out emphasizes
this sense of visual continuity.
Internally, the formal adult zone and informal family zones (and
master suite and children’s rooms above) are separated by the stair core and
play area, and can be closed off from each other by pocket doors. Built-in cabinets are used throughout the
home to divide larger spaces into smaller areas. The play area upstairs can later be converted
into a third bedroom if needed.
The cantilevering master bedroom creates a covered outdoor dining
area and hovers out toward to the canyon views.
The angle of the roof above the bedroom terrace and the infinity edge of
the pool is parallel to the geometry of the site and the canyon below.