Bernal Turret

Gregg Segal

Bernal Turret: A Playful Renovation of an Oddly Shaped House

• Architects

In remaking this ’80s era mishmash of a post-modern house, Blue Truck Studio leaned into its unique geometry. The trapezoid-shaped house — with a distinctive rounded tower in the corner — sits on a triangular lot. The studio created a more expansive interior while playfully referencing the home’s shapes. A reconfigured kitchen on the second floor features a trapezoid island that echoes the shape of the house. New minimalist details combined with crafted elements, such as a tapered reclaimed post, bring a warm, quiet aesthetic to unusual spaces.

This was a renovation project for a post-modern home that was designed and built by its previous owner in the late '80s. It was somewhat in disrepair and falling apart. The interior work encompassed a few layout changes. What was once an oddly shaped playroom/hallway on the first level became a master suite with framed views of the neighborhood and hillside park. New windows updated the sprawling views of the city and the old upstairs bedroom became an inspiring work studio. On the exterior, we stripped back most of the post-modern detailing to tone it down.

It’s an interesting house on an odd lot. The lot itself is a triangle and the house ends up being a trapezoid on the triangle. Then, there’s this tower in the corner, which houses a spiral staircase that serves all levels. The layout is quirky as you can imagine in a trapezoid. The design-minded owners leaned into the quirkiness and the geometry of the house. We reference the shapes in the interior space, whether it’s the triangular tiles in the bathroom or the trapezoid kitchen island or the circular lights. The unconventional spiral stairway, refreshed with new treads, a custom handrail, and app-controlled LED strip lights, became a playful element in the house that leads up through the circular turret to the roof deck.