Project size: 4,950 square feet
Program: This live/work house for the architect and his artist wife has two studios, native gardens, and flexible indoor-outdoor living. The couple collaborated on all aspects of the project: the architect led the building design and site planning, while the artist directed color and material selection, furnishings, and gardens. The two approached the house as a case study in sustainability, based on passive design with building and environment in harmony. The house celebrates its connection to the local and regional landscape. In Rustic Canyon, just two miles from central Santa Monica, it nestles low between canyon ridges to the east and west
Location: Rustic Canyon, California
Solution: The house is organized along an east-west axis to optimize north and south solar orientations. A gallery forms the spine of the house: rooms alternate north and south of it, creating the sense of separate pavilions while allowing for all major areas to have ample exposure to light and prevailing ocean breezes. This alternation of spaces creates a hierarchy of courtyards from the entry and the library court to the central south-facing court, which frames a 125-year-old English oak, the anchor of the site. As a deciduous tree, it gives perfect summer shade and allows the court to capture warmth in winter. Operable glass walls allow spatial variations of indoor-outdoor connectivity. Like the Japanese concept of “ma,” the house is experienced progressively as a transformation from inside to outside and back again.
Construction and materials: The structure is steel with engineered wood studs. The material palette represents a blend of elements such as hand-mixed integral color plaster and stone for thermal mass, with contemporary products: treated wood siding as a rustic but fire-resistant exterior cladding, recycled materials, LED lighting.
Additional Information
Completion date: March 2016
Gross square footage: 4,950 square feet
Total project cost: withheld
Owner: Buzz Yudell and Tina Beebe
