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Tim Street-Porter
This remodel organizes the house around a pathway that angles th…
Santa Monica Canyon Residence
Renovation | Merit Award
1 MIN READ
This thoroughgoing remodel transforms a house that merely coped with its challenging site to one that weaves landscape and architecture into a cohesive living environment. Architects Margaret Griffin and John Enright organized the project around a pathway that angles through the 50-foot-wide lot, defining it outdoors by paving stones and indoors by a skylight that mirrors the pavers’ rhythm with a progression of aluminum-clad roof beams.
From the front gate, the path descends to a sunken patio at the entrance. It then passes through the building, subtly dividing the loftlike interior into kitchen, living, and dining spaces. Emerging at the rear of the house, it descends a full flight of stairs beside an alley-facing garage, whose roof doubles as an elevated deck off the dining area.
The jury commended the architects for “taking an existing house that denied its site and creating … a garden that matches the architecture.” The building’s interior, whose neutral palette backdrops the owners’ art collection, also drew praise. “It’s nice how they brought ambient lighting in throughout,” one judge said.
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