Several generations of the owner’s family enjoyed seaside
vacations in their weathered, wooden cottage in Crystal Cove, just north of
Laguna Beach, California. When the lease with the State of California recently
expired, the owners purchased a property within the Strand at the Headlands, a
few miles south in Dana Point. Seeking to re-establish their familial base, the
owners requested a relaxed family beach house accommodating three master suites
for parents and grandparents, as well as a suitable environment for children,
grandchildren and friends. The parti reflects the program through a composition
of three diaphanous pavilions around a central, unifying courtyard. This
courtyard is concealed from the street and entered discretely through a
pivoting wood door revealing a covered passageway along a stone wall leading to
the entry. This sequence of movement from street to inner sanctum creates an atmosphere
of mystery and heightens the sense of arrival, while also revealing the ocean
view sequentially. A series of overlapping reflecting ponds contained within
the central courtyard instill a sense of meditation and retreat where one can
contemplate the ocean and sky.
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