Purpose-built for a single family, this house acts as a prototype for custom contemporary homes that can achieve serenity and privacy on constricted suburban lots in Los Angeles. The unpretentious layout and massing prioritize connections between the living spaces and the outdoors, while carefully crafted exterior spaces and gardens protect the domestic environment from the street and adjacent homes. Daylight-filled interior spaces are rigorously sequenced to elicit openness and intimacy. Nooks, niches, and small spaces for retreat are carefully integrated into the floor plan. The earth-toned exterior façade, covered by creeping fig vines, complements the surrounding context.
A path across the front garden leads to the entrance and directly into the kitchen, dining area, and breakfast nook. The heart of the home, this communal area or great room is visually and physically connected to the family rooms and a manicured lawn at the back of the house. The seamless connection between indoors and outdoors throughout the residence is accentuated by oversize glass pocket doors that extend from the great room onto a private outdoor courtyard adjacent to the dining room. Likewise, the breakfast nook has a pocket door that opens onto the front yard, which is planted with a textured mix of native plants, ornamental grasses and olive trees. These glass doors, along with strategically placed skylights and windows, avoid the need for artificial lighting during the day.
At the back of the house, a 30-year-old Japanese black pine serves as the focal point for the family room and double-height atrium that provides light and air throughout. The second-floor volume is pulled back from the front façade, minimizing its impact on the low-scale neighborhood. Light-filled and spacious, the primary bedroom suite embodies the ethos of the house.
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