Project Details
Project Description
Our client was looking for a retreat from his city apartment, a place where he could reconnect with the outdoors. The lot was located on Paradise Avenue, a picturesque, but busy road, lined with old stone walls and generously spaced houses set back from the street. A stream toward the rear of our client's lot required us to place the house close to the road. The challenge was dealing with the attendant noise and lack of privacy. We decided to use a series of layers. First, we rebuilt a stone wall that ran along the front line of the property and then backed it with a privet hedge to absorb sound. The driveway is a linear courtyard, reinforcing the separation of public and private spaces. The house is drawn out along the courtyard with a garage to one side, mirrored by a porch and trellis on the other. Aluminum framed doors with white translucent panels are used on the garage as well as the screen porch, allowing light in, while preserving privacy. The long, flat, street façade of the house is punctuated by the entry, which reaches out and invites you in. Once inside, the layering continues with the more closed entry opening to the kitchen/dining room, which in turn opens to the living room, which in turn opens to the entire site by using large glass panels and doors. Exposed steel beams define these areas. Boards line the inside walls of the house. They are slightly spaced in order to give a subtle texture. Playing with different amounts of opening in the board coursing reinforces the theme of layering started at the street. The private stair to the master bedroom and tower use the same translucent material as the garage and screen porch doors. From the tower there are views of the beaches and surfers that await, at the end of Paradise Avenue.
