This project is located on a walk-street, two blocks from the Pacific Ocean in Hermosa Beach, California. The home’s tight 30’ x 70’ lot flanked on one end by the pedestrian only street and on the other with a narrow alley. The client’s brief was simple — they wanted a house that connected to the outdoors. An on-grade ipe deck forms a generous front porch. It doubles as an outdoor rec room where the family can hang out, play ping-pong and socialize with their fellow neighbors. White concrete masonry blocks turned on their side to expose their core form an entry wall that screens the interior living areas from the front porch.
A 27 foot long pocket sliding door opens the living, dining, and kitchen to a patio running the length of the lot and allows the interior to borrow six and a half feet from the required side yard setback, making the modest sized footprint live larger than its square footage. A walk-street facing balcony provides access to a roof terrace where there are panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean. A mechanical parking lift — the first of its kind used to meet Hermosa’s two enclosed parking stall requirements — fits two cars stacked vertically in the footprint of one.
Freeing up the room needed to allow the program’s living spaces to all fit on the ground floor. The exterior consists entirely of western red cedar, milled in various profiles to create contrast and texture. The cedar continues on the interior ceilings and accent walls. Interior floors, stairs and balusters are white oak. Native and regionally appropriate landscaping provides privacy and color, while gravel ground cover and a turf-block driveway allow rain water to percolate into the water table.