“It's really about volumes and voids.” That's how project architect Takashi Yanai of Ehrlich Architects sums up this beachfront compound, which presents itself as an abstract assembly of rectilinear masses, stacked like so many children's blocks. Yanai and principal architect Steven Ehrlich heightened the effect by cladding blocks in contrasting, monolithic applications of stucco, concrete masonry, and zinc. Broad panels of glazing—there's scarcely a conventional window unit in the building—lend transparency to the composition.
But while the house reads as an exercise in pure form, it also functions admirably as a platform for living. “The majority of the program was devoted to entertainment,” says Yanai, who envisioned much of the latter occurring outdoors. Sited adjacent to a public beach access route, the one-bedroom main building and three-bedroom guesthouse cluster to create outdoor living spaces that range from a private central courtyard and pool to a street-front court for Pétanque (a French form of lawn bowling).
Project Credits
Entrant/Architect: Ehrlich Architects, Culver City, Calif.
Builder: George “Bud” Fitch, Aptos, Calif.
Landscape architect: SSA Landscape Architects, Santa Cruz, Calif.
Structural engineer: AG Schmidt, Concord, Calif.
Living space: 3,284 square feet
Site: 0.18 acre
Construction cost: Withheld
Photographer: Matthew Millman
Product Specs
Bathroom fittings: Duravit USA; Bathroom fixtures: Vola A/S; Countertops: CaesarStone USA; Doors, windows: Fleetwood Windows & Doors; Exterior siding, garage doors: RHEINZINK America; Hardware: FSB USA; Kitchen cabinets: Bulthaup Corp.; Kitchen fittings: Franke Consumer Products; Paints/stains/wall finishes: Dunn-Edwards Corp.; Refrigerator: Sub-Zero
