Stepping Out

People who buy a beachfront site want a house with outdoor rooms that take advantage of the sun and sea. But how to provide outdoor spaces when the beachfront site is just .2 acre and has an average 45-degree slope? With romantic notions of an Italian hillside village in mind, architect Ernesto Vasquez gave nearly every room in this Laguna Beach, Calif., house access to a terrace or balcony of its own and tamed the beastly site.

Sloping more than 50 feet from the neighborhood street at the top down to the beach road at its base, the lot challenged Vasquez to devise a solution that would give the homeowners privacy from traffic and neighbors in addition to usable outdoor space. He developed a four-level plan that faces the ocean with a cascade of terraces that step down the slope and both protect and open the interior spaces to the Pacific view.

To shelter it from the street, the upper entry courtyard is sunk slightly below grade and surrounded with abundant plantings. A fireplace adds focus and function to the courtyard, while planters soften the hardscape and tie into perimeter gardens. An outdoor stair winding through hidden archways connects the entry courtyard with lower terraces and gardens. The stairs provide homeowners and guests with means to wander freely among outdoor rooms without trekking through the house.

Vasquez also paid careful attention to horizontal relationships between indoor and outdoor spaces. He located activity zones so that the clients would have the ability to go in and out and enjoy the terraces easily, “but we also wanted to put the largest terrace away from close neighbors,” he explains. Such consideration led to designing from the outside in. The two middle floors were ideal for long terraces that open off primary living spaces. One floor below the street entry level, a pergola-topped terrace runs the length of the great room. The columned loggia narrows slightly as it continues along the breakfast nook and finally ends with a built-in grill conveniently located off the indoor kitchen. Vasquez designed this particular terrace as “a hotel resort space for entertaining and outdoor events.” Built-in seating and heating lamps tucked into the overhang create comfort even when the fog rolls in or ocean breezes chill the air.

Just below the great room terrace (and protected by it) is the kids’ portico. It runs the length of the family room and their bedrooms. With rough stone arches marking the end of formal stone pavers, it exudes a more laid-back vibe. Beyond the pavers, a square spa is surrounded by loose gravel patios and purposefully chaotic plantings crisscrossed with stepping stones. Vasquez’s multilayered plan gives the lower verandah to the young adults, muting their noisy entrances and exits while giving them direct beach access. They also use the lower garage to park their dune buggy and surfboards.

The homeowners wanted the inside to feel as airy and outdoorsy as the terraces, so palettes were also chosen from outside in. Materials selected for their sun-kissed feel include exposed wood beams, fieldstone, and plaster finishes. Vasquez felt that stone on the lower exterior levels anchors the house into the slope while Tuscan yellow plaster above lightens the load. Letting exterior materials continue into the house blurs the line where outdoor living begins and ends.

Project Credits
Builder: Chris Dyer, Corona del Mar, Calif.
Architect: McLarand Vasquez Emsiek & Partners, Irvine, Calif.
Landscape designer: Summers Murphy & Partners, Dana Point, Calif.
Photographer: Robert Hansen Photography
Illustrations: Harry Whitver