Redwood House

3553, Redwood Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, United States

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Redwood House

3553, Redwood Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Firm

YEAR

2010

SIZE

1000 sqft - 3000 sqft

BUDGET

$0 - 10K

Curbing Consumption
The task was to remodel the property so that it would also continue
to “fit in” with the neighboring houses, keeping in harmony with the
existing area. The property was to maintain and to reflect the
surrounding vernacular of the California bungalow or ranch house. It was
important to maintain the memory of the original place—but also to
reinvent it.The clients insisted on a minimalist modernism yet with hints of
vernacular traditions that encompassed both old and new. Old materials
were re-purposed whenever possible with the intent of curbing the
consumption of new materials and other consumer goods. Existing wood
siding and redwood framing, existing concrete floors, existing doors and
cabinetry etc... were ALL re-purposed. The design went BEYOND recycling
by finding ways to limit consumption (both practically and spiritually)
which is the core of a new paradigm for a sustainable future. Therefore
the space is largely bare of extraneous decoration—except for those
memory details that inspired a sense of identity and comfort. Space itself became a visual repository of the client's memories and
not just a place for objects accumulated over time and travels. They
wanted the new design to enable a tactile as well as visual relationship
to the central activities in their lives as mountain climbers, animal
and nature lovers.The contrast between the rich chocolate brown of the main house and
the Tibetan red of the ‘guest room’ is the one of the most striking
details of this spare yet inviting aesthetic. The old house had a low
hip roof. The new house has a pitched roof with exposed roof rafters
and Simpson connections, which re-created the feeling of entering a
medieval Italian dwelling (one of the owners is of Italian descent). The main living areas achieve an emptiness that is reminiscent of
the scale of mountains. There is room to breath deeply and feel
connected to materials (wood, stone, light). The floors were stripped
down to the concrete—reminding and linking us to the cool hardness of
stone above the Alpines.
New concrete was patched directly to the old concrete because this
symbolized the harmonious relationship of past histories with present
moments. The house had to incorporate both; old and new, present and
past, but allow for a sense of future as well. Niches were carved into
the walls as “repositories” for memories of specific moments and themes.
Things remembered were stored in the ‘fabric’ of our house, within its
structure and its shape.