The clients requested a modern, light filled residence to take advantage of the lot and to display their collection of art and objects. The design responded to the unique conditions on the site. The land falls away steeply from the roadway, and a stream bed diagonally cutting the site results in the house to the north being set to the very back of it’s lot, while the neighbor to the south has a more typical set back from the street. The design solution involved a mostly solid front façade that only expresses the main level of the house, with the rear of the house being a two-story wall almost completely of glass facing the private back yard. A free standing brick wall that supports the master bedroom deck screens the back yard and provides privacy. This solution also allows the majority of the mass of the house to be concealed from the street, blending the scale of the structure into the neighborhood of 1950’s and ‘60’s houses. Landscaping and a water feature were also incorporated into the design concept.

The mass of the building was kept to a compact form to help minimize construction costs. The upper level living spaces occur in two sections of barrel-vaulted roofs with a slice in between that holds the entrance and main staircase.

Type of construction (materials and systems): Wood frame structure with a brick veneer finish on the front and two ends (required by local covenant) with field applied concrete stucco and aluminum storefront for the window systems. Roof is standing seam galvanized panels. All trim, upper level ceiling and custom built cabinets from Douglas Fir. Lower level flooring exposed concrete opening out to a concrete patio.