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Context/Site/Program: The project is a model of site-specific infill set in a hillside neighborhood. Multi- and single-family buildings of varying scale and character occupy surrounding properties. The new residence shares a 50-by-160-foot parallelogram-shaped lot with an existing front house. An existing 10-foot tall retaining wall runs the width of the property. Cut off from the rest of the property by the retaining wall, the rear third of the lot had lay fallow. A mature Chinese Elm tree stands at the southerly base of the retaining wall. While tailored to the programmatic requirements of the client, namely the architect, his wife and their two young daughters, the project design is primarily a response to specific site conditions.
Dialogue with Existing House: The existing front house was originally a gable-roofed painted wood and stucco box built in the 1950's. An extensive renovation and second-story addition by the architect in 1999 refined the original house while maintaining its traditional form and ubiquitous palette of materials. In contrast, the design of the rear house refers to the California modern architectural tradition of the mid-twentieth century. Parallel histories are set in formal dialogue between the modern rear house and the traditional front house. Reinforcing the dialogue, the rear house studio is nestled into the gable roof of the front house garage.
Privacy and Views: Roof planes step up the sloped site providing city and mountain views from multiple levels. Walls and fenestration subtly shift in reference to the non-orthogonal site to maintain privacy and control views between neighboring structures. The design exploits a long-view corridor along the driveway between the front house and an adjacent apartment building. Views of a neighborhood park, a block away, are captured between apartment buildings to the north and rear.
Existing Retaining Wall and Tree: The house stitches the site together, fully utilizing the previously inaccessible portion of the site and incorporating the existing retaining wall into the split-level system of the house. The house is constructed around the mature Chinese Elm tree. Each level of the house offers different experiences of the tree; the trunk rising from the Entry Courtyard, the ascending branch structure as one climbs through the Stairwell, the canopy of branches over the Studio Balcony, the uppermost leaves dappling sunlight into the Loft.
Multi-Level Connections: Given the tight, sloped site, circulation runs vertically. Open-tread scissor stairs run through the wedge-shaped stairwell volume interconnecting the multiple floor levels of the house. Voids between stair and wall and between alternating stair runs reinforce the volumetric connection between levels. Living and Dining areas and Kitchen share the mid-floor level. A secondary stair wraps around the core of the house connecting the Kitchen and Family/Guest Room. The two-story volume of the Living space is open to the Loft and Master Suite above. The Master Suite is a half-floor above the children's level; close enough for comfort yet separate enough for privacy. The Studio is pulled away from the rest of the house, linked to the stairwell by a glazed bridge.
Connection with Nature: Taking advantage of the temperate Southern California climate, each floor level has at least one direct egress to a balcony or yard. The primary living space extends into the backyard through broad, floor-to ceiling sliding glass door panels. Walls, roof planes, beams, railing and fascia run continuously through glazed openings, connecting interior and exterior. Architectural elements of wood, stone and metal further tie the house to nature and imbue the interiors with a sense of calm.
Internal Formal Dialogue: In response to the crude intersection of finish materials typical of many neighboring buildings, the architect created a rigorous dialogue of walls within the new house. Two contrasting wall systems distinguish service and public zones of the house from private realms; thick, steel-trowel natural plaster-finished walls with punched openings align with the side yards, while thinner walls with corner glazing, engaged posts and vertical wood-siding orient to the front and rear property lines.
Sustainable Features: Helping stem the tide of sprawl, the project activates previously inaccessible fallow urban land. The project preserves energy and material resources by rehabilitating the existing front house and incorporating the existing retaining wall into the design of the new rear house. The deciduous Chinese Elm tree is utilized as a natural solar control year round, shading the south-facing stairwell during summer while letting direct sunlight in through the glazing system to heat the thermal mass wall of the stairwell in winter. Operable windows at each floor level cross-ventilate the stairwell and cool the house with prevailing ocean breezes. Bedrooms open to the stairwell for warm and cool air exchange. Photovoltaic panels on the roof provide much of the electrical power to the house year round and feed the grid during peak summer months.
Photography: Bernard Wolf |
