Bridges and Walkways to Connect Spaces | HNN House

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Thrilled with the beach town location of their summer house, but not with its loud ’90s-era architecture, a family approached Blue Truck Studio with a directive — tone it down. What they had: a house with wild geometry, such as octagon-shaped rooms and triangular spaces. What they wanted: a Sea Ranch aesthetic of simple forms. Blue Truck Studio created an all-new interior of calm, open spaces that flowed easily into one another. For the exterior, the firm reconfigured windows as well as the siding, which wrapped around the house to simplify its form and provide privacy. A pivot door and two large slider doors invite ample light inside while a driveway turned soccer pitch and slatted outdoor shower for hosing off after a trip to the beach reflect the family’s love of recreation and the outdoors.

By paying homage to their roots, these updated dwellings strike a balance between past and present to stunning effect. Take a look at the renovations and new builds from the Dwell community that caught our editor’s eye this week.

Originally built as a modest beachfront cabin in the 1960s and subsequently modified through a series of piecemeal renovations, by the time the client acquired the house its design integrity had long ceased to exist. The forested one-acre property, however, was ideally suited to the creation of a quiet refuge with direct connections to nature. The path from street to house is conceived as a journey where work and public life give way to nature and private reflection. The 60-foot change in elevation from entry drive to water’s edge, was not without challenges. The upper driveway is transformed into a winding forest drive, while the final steps to the house pass through a series of intimate landscapes. A two-story glazed entry provides glimpses through the house to the water from the moment one enters the site. “To preserve the original view experience,” notes Brett Baba, principal architect for the project, “we carved big glass slots through the house both vertically and horizontally so a visitor can see right through to the water as they descend to the house.” Planted roof surfaces help to merge the house with its setting. Inside, the house was taken back to the studs and completely reworked. Previously lacking visual connections to the lake, all major interior spaces were reoriented to the views. “One of the most challenging aspects of this project,” adds Baba, “was the limited buildable area of the site. The homeowner had an ambitious program, so we needed to be creative in finding ways to solve space needs and elevate the quality of the space we had.” The main floor and formal entry, the middle of the house’s three floors, serve as the public zone of the house. Here, spaces including the galley kitchen and breakfast room, and dining and living, which flow one to the other. A small guest room rounds out the main floor. A second floor was added to provide separation for private spaces, and includes the master suite and kids bedrooms. The staircase connecting the floors was conceived as a set of wood slabs (fumed white oak) that appear to float within a wood enclosure. The partial, below-grade basement, was previously closed off from the waterfront. The space now opens directly to the water, enabling activities to flow from inside to outside. The basement provides family-oriented spaces including the family room, gym, wine room, kitchenette, laundry, powder bath and playroom for the children. Family room furnishing are simple, dominated by an L-shaped sofa, and a large television above a fireplace—a “hangout area” for the kids. Baba and Hunziker worked closely with the homeowner on the selection of finishes. “He pushed us to explore the most elegant design that we could,” notes Baba. “He has great taste and was open to very sophisticated finishes and details” Materially rich finishes—such as polished concrete, stone, cerused rift white oak and fumed oak, and blackened steel—balance the otherwise crisp and spare detailing found throughout the house. Everything from door pulls to sink faucet levers were meticulously designed, detailed, and fabricated. Stand out features include the staircase with floating wood slabs, custom bead-blasted nickel hardware, an oversized Japanese soaking tub, and sliding leather paneled pocket doors to master bedroom and bathroom. Concealed doors and integrated handrails reinforce the minimal aesthetic without sacrificing rich materiality. Outside, variously-sized, dark-stained cedar siding provides subtle dimension and shadow effects. Cor-Ten siding wraps selected portions of the exterior to articulate the composition and massing. Integrated sun shades and fins on all west-facing windows marry function with aesthetics, adding visual texture while mitigating direct sun exposure. Graham Baba Architects team
Brett Baba, design principal
Francesco Borghesi, project team
Noreen Shinohara, project team Project team
Graham Baba Architects (architecture)
Terry Hunziker Inc. (interiors)
CPL (civil engineer)
Carissa Farkas (structural engineer)
Geotech Consultants (geotechnical engineer)
Rich Haag and Associates / Anne James Landscape Architect (landscape architecture)
Brian Hood (lighting design)
Lockhart | Suver LLC (contractor)
Fleetwood USA (windows and selected doors)

A guest house that has a distinctly contemporary character and yet seamlessly integrates both with the main house that is more traditional and a lush green garden, the Paddock Brow Guesthouse does it all! Designed by Blee Halligan Architects for a homeowner who traveled a lot before finally coming back to his roots in UK, […]

You’re reading Contemporary Guesthouse in Wood and Glass Flows into the Garden, originally posted on Decoist. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Decoist on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

A completely transformative renovation opened this former tract home up to views, light, and its stunning outdoor setting. It’s all about the views, but this residence wasn’t always this way. What is now a metal and cedar stunner situated on a private, hilly enclave above Calabasas, was once a darkly lit 1960s-era generic single family home. A two-year renovation made a total overhaul for an entrepreneur and his wife, empty nesters with kids living nearby. The architect, Brian Wickersham of AUX Architecture in Los Angeles, didn’t change a thing in terms of the home’s footprint and rooflines; he couldn’t. “We initially looked at building a new home, but quickly learned that because of an ancient paleolithic landslide, that the county requirements for restraining the hill would be cost prohibitive and time-consuming—potentially five or more years,” says Wickersham. “Instead, we devised a plan to work within the existing house footprint and building envelope for a project that would be classified as a renovation.” In addition to these parameters, the homeowners tasked him with throwing out all of the old—down to the last salad fork—and bringing in everything new—all the while designing something where they could entertain a growing gaggle of grandkids. The result is a modern home that transitions from indoors to outdoors with the ease this property was intended for. “It’s about striking a balance between modest down-to-earth people and helping them realize they can be living a luxurious lifestyle,” says Wickersham. It’s about them living at a higher level of luxury.” A composition of dark standing seam metal and vertical grain cedar give the appearance of three cut pieces, shifted side-to-side, the wood being the cut face. The cedar siding also carries from outside to in, bringing warmth to the home and reinforcing the inside-outside connection. Solar panels, thermal panels to heat the pool, and a thermally coupled HVAC system enable the home to largely function off-the-grid.