Project Details
- Project Name
- Branch House
- Location
- CA
- Architect
- TOLO Architecture
- Project Types
- Single Family
- Project Scope
- New Construction
- Size
- 4,400 sq. feet
- Shared by
- Madeleine D'Angelo
- Project Status
- Built
This project was selected as a winner in the 2019 Residential Architect Awards
Custom Home, More Than 3,000 Square Feet, Award
Designed by Los Angeles–based TOLO Architecture, the Branch House brings a village of abstract domestic forms to a typical suburban enclave in Montecito, Calif. The 4,400-square-foot single-family residence sits on a 1-acre site on a cul de sac. A series of eight rectangular volumes, each with a skylight, enclose a living room and dining room, a kitchen, a two-car garage, an office, two bedrooms, a master bath, and a powder room, respectively, and are deployed in a nonorthogonal layout across the site. The positioning of each balances the desire for occupant privacy as well as views of the surrounding landscape. Meandering glass-lined hallways connect the volumes and act as galleries for the client’s art collection.
The interior palette is simple, even stark: concrete floors, gypsum board walls and ceilings, and exposed laminated-veneer lumber joists in the corridors and other areas. Colorfully glazed Heath clay tile punctuates specific areas: blue for the kitchen, and blue, pink, and yellow for the bathrooms. The exterior is even simpler, with the roof and siding of the boldly geometric volumes sheathed in copper shingles that act as a rainscreen while protecting the wood-framed structure from fire like a protective armor.
The continuous concrete floor of the extensive single-story home sits on concrete piles that protect the root structure of the property’s native coastal live oaks. The trees were carefully maintained during the restoration of the natural slope of the site, which had been altered to accommodate an earlier structure. The Branch House’s simple forms, formal invention, and easy relationship to the landscape recall California forerunners like Joseph Eichler and Frank Gehry, FAIA, and are crafted with a precision that defies dating.
Project Credits
Location: Montecito, Calif.
Client: Withheld
Architect: TOLO Architecture, Los Angeles . Peter Tolkin, AIA (principal); Jeremy Schacht; Albert Escobar
Structural Engineer: Joseph Perazzelli Structural Engineering
Civil Engineer: Michael Viettone Civil Engineering
General Contractor: RHC Construction
Landscape Architect: Wade Graham Landscape Studio
Lighting Designer: Lighting Design Alliance
Energy Consultant: Monterey Energy Group
Arborist: Westree
Size: 4,400 square feet (house); 700 square feet (garage); 500 square feet (studio)
Cost: Withheld
Materials and Sources
Appliances: Sub-Zero (refrigerator, wine refrigerator); Gaggenau (double oven); Wolf (gas range, hood); Miele (dishwasher); Electrolux (washer, dryer)
Bathroom Fixtures: Dornbracht; Waterstone Faucets; Blu Bathworks; Icera; Chicago Faucets
Cabinets: Bartlett’s Fine Cabinetry (custom)
Ceilings: LVL beams; plywood
Countertops: Stainless steel; Stone
Exterior Wall Systems: Martin Roofing and Sheet Metal (copper cladding)
Flooring: Finished concrete; Heath Ceramics (ceramic tile)
Furniture: Moroso; Knoll
Hardware: FSB; Simonswerk
HVAC: Radiant floor heating; Unico
Insulation: Owens Corning
Kitchen Fixtures: Dornbracht
Lighting Control Systems: Lutron Electronics Co. (RadioRA 2 System, Diva)
Lighting: LF Illumination; Hevi; Bega; Tivoli; Prudential Ltg; Litelab; Soraa
Metal: Central Machine & Welding (Steel structure; Custom steel windows)
Music System: Sonos; James Loudspeaker
Photovoltaics: Photovoltaic system
Plumbing/Water System: Solar hot-water heater
Roofing: Custom copper roofing; IB Roof Systems
Site/Landscape Products: Nesheim Landscape (installation)
Structural System: Wood frame on raised structural slab; Gordon Fiano (structural wood framing/beams)
Walls: Skim-coat plaster over drywall
Windows/Doors: Custom steel fixed windows; Vitrocsa; Shüco International; Architectural Millwork of Santa Barbara; Architectural Window Shades; Schweiss (garage door); Industrial Skylights
Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
| The Branch House is located on a one acre-lot in the hills of Montecito. The property originally held a 1960’s ranch house with native Coastal Live Oaks in the back yard. The new house, arranged in the round, is conceived as a cluster of program volumes each with its own unique orientation to light and view. Demolishing the original ranch allowed us to restore the oak grove and return the earth to its natural grade. Working closely with an arborist, we build the house within the oaks, floating the house off the ground by means of concrete piles. In addition to providing a primary view out to the landscape, each room also has a skylight offering a view of the sky. A circulation spine, lined with glass, doubles as a gallery for the owner’s extensive art collection. Color and material also play an important role in the design. The post and beam structure, comprised of engineered Laminated Veneer Lumber, is adjusted to the irregular geometry of the house. A continuous concrete slab ties the volumes together at the floor plane. Richly colored kitchen and bathroom interiors, clad from floor to ceiling with single-color natural “Heath” clay tile, add an element of surprise to the project. To address fire concerns, the house is built with a fire-resistive exterior “armor” made of copper tiles, which is separated from the wood frame with a rain screen. The copper skin will develop patina over time further integrating the house into the oak grove landscape. |
Project Credits:
Project: Branch House
Architect: TOLO Architecture, Los Angeles . Peter Tolkin, AIA (principal); Jeremy Schacht; Albert Escobar
Structural Engineer: Joseph Perazzelli Structural Engineering
Civil Engineer: Michael Viettone Civil Engineering
General Contractor: RHC Construction
Landscape Architect: Wade Graham Landscape Studio
Lighting Designer: Lighting Design Alliance
Energy Consultant: Monterey Energy Group
Arborist: Westree
