Contemporary Courtyard
Combining a complex program with the clients’ desire for a courtyard home, this house provides a pleasant retreat from stressful professional lives.
The plan is organized around an entry foyer/stair hall/gallery. This two-story space provides the house with required art exhibition space and extends and brings the exterior court space inside. On axis with the entry foyer, the stair hall visually connects with the breakfast room, the green house and rear garden.
Another axis is established in the living room, the library, the music room and on to the landscaped pool area. Lateral vistas cutting through the stair hall and into the dining room and library give views to the side exterior green spaces. A brick wall which is both a garden wall and part of the facade insures the privacy of the house.
Bands of rose-colored bricks provide a harmonious exterior accent. The arched entry gate and the beamed courtyard introduce the Mediterranean concept of the house. These elements of brick, arches and exposed cedar beams continue throughout the house unifying interior with exterior.
Despite the site constraints and the large number of unique spaces, the house feels open because of its vaulted ceilings, clearstory lighting and refined level of interior finishes.
