A New Book Explores 25 of the World’s Most Sensuous Buildings

Picking the right color for your kitchen is a task that is difficult at the best of times when you have clarity regarding the style you want in there. Things get a bit more confusing when you move away from the more popular hues like white, blue, gray and cream in the kitchen and delve […]

Designed for a young couple, the 5,000 sf home and 1,700 sf back house sit on a flat 21,000 sf lot in a 1920’s Palo Alto neighborhood (a few blocks away from Steve Jobs’ residence). The architecture is a study in strong simple composition and is museum-like with its highly refined materiality and emphasis on craft. The massing defines solid and void, captures natural light, and connects the indoors with the landscape, seeking to ‘experience the outdoors from within.’ The ground floor volumes wrapped in an elongated hand-fired brick from Denmark, emphasizing the horizontality of the architecture that lays solidly on the land. Bronze-trimmed ceiling planes slide between the brick masses, and floor-to-ceiling glazed openings are captured by thin-profiled bronze frames. In contrast to the grounded brick volumes, the second floor is clad in stainless steel panels and oversized aluminum-framed windows. The lightness and openness of the second floor is nestled among the oak-tree canopies of the site. At the basement level, a wine cellar and tasting room open to a sunken landscaped courtyard. A 30ft by 10ft continuous pane of glass runs alongside the grand stairwell of floating stone steps, connecting the three levels of the house. Due to the unprecedented size of this glass in residential design, it was custom manufactured in Germany and shipped to California. This dramatic moment in the sequence of progressing through the house helps visitors feel connected to the lush landscape outside. Inside the house, materials such as a custom leather door and bronze anodized details were selected for their unique craftsman-style quality. Another custom-designed element is the steel mesh screen that wraps around to enclose the kitchen for privacy, separating this from the more public “guest hosting” areas adjacent. The steel screen slides along a track embedded into the teak slatted ceiling and disappears into the pantry when retracted. A freestanding structure set deep back into the site is a zen-like fitness/yoga studio as well as a guesthouse with a kitchenette. This dramatic stone mass opens up completely in the center to give the impression of exercising outdoors. The landscape integrates California native plant species, grasses and trees to compliment the materiality of the architecture.

You know you’re a design lover when you visit a new restaurant and spend more time staring at the decor than the menu! And why shouldn’t you?! Interior design can be absolutely grand in culinary spaces. The surroundings may be larger-scale, providing a showroom of possibilities for combining eye-catching elements. Even smaller spaces can provide […]

You’re reading Let Restaurant Design Inspire Your Next Home Makeover, originally posted on Decoist. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Decoist on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Villeta means ‘little village’ and while this remote location in Columbia might be away from big city lights and constant rush, it is by no means little. It is here that one finds the spectacular VO House – a captivating weekend residence that sits atop a lot overlooking the valley created by Rivers Villeta and […]

You’re reading Fire, Water and an Air of Luxury: Dream Weekend Home with Enchanting Views, originally posted on Decoist. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Decoist on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.