Process

Guest House

7,500 SF
Loca­tion withheld

Located in a water­front neigh­bor­hood with detached houses on nar­row lots, the owner wanted the guest house to be sep­a­rated from the sur­round­ing houses and street while simul­ta­ne­ously engag­ing the exist­ing house.

The result is a two ges­ture house: While the north and east faces are mute, 3‑story stucco walls, the south and west faces have a more ani­mated mass­ing, pro­ject­ing in and out. This more ani­mated ele­va­tion, with stepped bal­conies and var­i­ous open­ings faces the main house and water. More

In essence, the guest house opens itself to the pres­ence of the main house. Com­ple­ment­ing the pri­mary res­i­dence, lime­stone pan­els and bronze glass are the pre­dom­i­nant exte­rior mate­ri­als. An exten­sive land­scap­ing design inte­grates the two houses and forms a com­mon drivecourt.

The ground level con­tains house­keep­ing and other ser­vices. At the west end, fac­ing the water is a glass enclosed entry lobby with a stone stair­way. The sec­ond level houses expan­sive com­mon areas as well as an exte­rior ter­race over­look­ing a bam­boo gar­den. A con­tin­u­ous, dou­ble-height hall­way is lit by sky­lights. Three bed­rooms all with pri­vate bath­rooms occupy the third level.

The roof level is acces­si­ble by the main stair­way. All mechan­i­cal equip­ment has been removed from this level to allow unob­structed, panoramic views.