Location: Highland Park, Los Angeles
Completed: 2014
Scope: New construction
Size: 2,048 square feet
Interior Design: Rob Hanson

The challenge:

The client’s prompt was to create a contemporary, green structure, unusual in the neighborhood. Analysis of the site told us that the best views were in the front, and that the site was unusually narrow and long,  with great potential for a large backyard.

The solution:

As the property offered fantastic views of the San Gabriel mountains at the front and up high, it was decided to situate the house’s living areas on the front second floor, with a wide deck.  Another deck from the second story master bedroom connects to the back yard.  Both first story bedrooms open directly to the backyard and a front office features a separate entry.  Bold cladding materials were chosen to stand out in an eclectic and expressive neighborhood; corrugated metal red to the street, unpainted to the backyard, and white fiber cement panels on the side. Poplar wood was used on all doors, including the garage.

Location: Highland Park, Los Angeles
Designed: 2014
Scope: Major Addition
Size: 605 square foot addition, 1325 square foot total

The challenge: 

The clients came to us with a small house, and a growing family.  The obvious area for adding space was in the back of the house, where the ground sloped up considerably.

The solution:

Contemplating the rising terrain offered several possibilities, the floor of the addition could rise with the grade, or perhaps two stories could be built in the addition.  With small children, the clients preferred to keep the whole house on the same floor level. A new volume with master bedroom suite and laundry/ utility area was added on. Since the floor stayed at the low level, another opportunity presented itself. As the terrain rises above the house, it almost meets the new roof level at the back. Therefore the terrain will be terraced, creating a natural stair, and the roof will be transformed into a deck, offering a great outdoor living space with views of Mt. Washington. 

The partially submerged master  suite is treated with carefully considered natural light through skylights and clearstory windows, creating a calming, cocoon effect.

Location: Washington County, Oregon 
Completed:  2014
Scope: Major addition, partial remodel
Size: 740 square foot addition/ 3,300 square foot total

The challenge:

This 1981 plans-built colonial home was situated creatively amongst a grove of large trees, yet its generic design did not harmonize with that environment. The client prompt here was to develop a larger living room with more natural light, a larger dining room and expanded kitchen, and an expanded master suite.

Orientating the new spaces to the outdoors was not difficult, as the building sits on a large lot with many trees. However, due to its low elevation, there were not any obvious view orientations, at least on the first floor, and many of the view lines included unsightly neighboring structures.  

The kitchen needed enlargement, however given its location at the rear of the house’s ground floor, any direct enlargement turned it into a barrier between the house’s entry and the new living space.

The solution:

The three primary rooms of the program express themselves as three volumes; the 1-1/2 story living room, the one story dining room, and the extended mass of the second story master bath. Those three blocks form an compelling interlocking composition and create amenities such as the second story deck over the dining.

The choice was made to orient the primary glass wall to a nearby dense grove of trees, to focus on the middle distance instead of the more typical long view.   This grove of trees stimulate meditative contemplation as seasons change. In expanding the kitchen, it was decided to change the orientation entirely, and annex a previous ‘family room’.

Changing the orientation of the kitchen from front to back of house opened up two hallways through the first floor, one leading directly from the front door to the living room, and another coming down from the staircase, and through the kitchen.

The chosen materials enhance the natural warm tones of the setting. Exterior cladding is western red cedar, windows are douglas fir with copper colored aluminum exterior. Flooring is Oregon myrtlewood, and kitchen countertops are red quartz.

Location: El Sereno, Los Angeles
Completed: 2017
Scope: New construction
Size: 2,354 square foot house Interior Design: Rob Hanson

The challenge: 

This design developed from a careful study of the vacant site.  The land slopes down dramatically from the street.   Structural concerns as well as building height rules compel the structure to hug the slope of the hill.  Additionally, regulations on street width, tree and animal protection, and neighborhood guidelines required more attention from us during the permitting process.  The views however, are sublime and made the challenges worthwhile.

The solution:

The top level connects to the street with entryway and garage, and the levels of the house follow the down sloping topography. 

Every bedroom and living space in this house has access to the killer western views, and direct access to the outdoors. 

A rooftop deck is accessed through exterior stairs.  A retaining wall on the lower level holds back the slope, thus creating a flat yard, unusual on such steep sites.

Two Houses in a Lot

Location: Burbank, California
Completed: (expected Fall 2019 )
Scope: Major addition, major remodel
Size: 2,084 square foot front house
1,133 square foot rear house

The challenge:

This property came to us with two small and very run down houses, one a ranch from 1954, and a smaller original structure from 1931.  Although on a small corner lot, the property was zoned R-2, and thus offered the potential to create larger and more useful homes.  The R-2 zoning was both a blessing and a curse, as regulations for large apartment buildings were stringently applied to these modest structures, limiting the options.

The solution:

The simple midcentury plan of the front house was expanded on the ground floor, creating an enlarged kitchen, open to the living room.   Additionally, we added an intimate dining room with generous windows, and a living room with large sliding doors to a shaded patio.   On the second story are two bedrooms, a laundry/office, plus a large master suite.  The master bedroom ceiling soars to 13 feet.  

The rear house packs a lot into a very small footprint, with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths.

Both houses feature numerous setbacks to break down the mass of the buildings, and to fit in with the older, largely single' family neighborhood.  Windows offer generous lights and views, but are composed to protect privacy between the two houses.   A series of outdoor spaces were carved out for each house as well, allowing the respective occupants to either mingle, or keep their privacy.   

We think of this project as a prototype for future housing development in Southern California, offering higher density while still respecting families’ needs for private indoor and outdoor space, and the character and scale of traditional neighborhoods. 

Location: Eagle Rock, Los Angeles
Completed: 2014
Scope: Complete renovation
Size: 1,438 Square Feet

The Challenge:

Originally, this was a very simple 1,000 square foot clapboard house from 1923, very typical to Los Angeles.  Various changes over the years stripped the house of any original character, and left some odd spaces.  A lack of insulation posed a heating and cooling challenge, and the overall condition of the house was very poor.

The Solution:

A three-foot floor rise in a 1990 addition was lowered to bring the whole home on the same level, thus opening up an expansive eleven foot high ceiling in the master bedroom suite area.  Removing a partition wall and vaulting the ceiling over the kitchen and living room created another generous expanse of space.

In essence, the renovated house forms two large loft-like volumes, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms connecting.

Whereas a conventional renovation approach might be to mimic detailing of the period, with mass-manufactured off- the-shelf synthetic moldings, this project took a different path. The home was renovated in a contemporary style, but using hand- crafted recycled materials. Many of the recycled materials were originally processed in the decade of the house’s original construction.  Douglas fir for flooring produces a warm reddish glow.  Windows were also built from Douglas fir floor joists.  Recycled redwood ceiling beams form built in shelving.

The wood siding was restored on the original house, and the newer addition was given a smooth stucco treatment. 

Location: Hollywood Dell, Los Angeles
Completed: 2014
Scope: Small addition, major remodel
Size: 952 square foot addition, 4,087 square foot total

This gut renovation of a 1923 Hollywood hills home relocated the Façade from the south to north sides, and added on a stair to incorporate a 1986 gym addition into the original house. 

Location: El Sereno, Los Angeles
Completed: (Estimated 2020)
Scope: New construction
Size: 2,050 square feet + 311 square feet ADU

The Challenge:

The goal was to maximize the potential of the interior spaces as they relate to the upsloping land, and to enhance the relationship with the outdoors.  

The Solution:

By carefully respecting the ascending grade of the house, the living spaces were situated to facilitate outside access and light.    Since the slope is not uniform from side to side, the floors are staggered.   The ADU starts an additional 4 feet above the garage, setting up a split level that continues, splitting the kitchen and dining area from the living room.    A large patio connects directly to the living room, with stairs leading further up the backyard.  That central axis is defined by the stairs of the house, connecting the spaces of the house fluidly.