Elegant Remodel Ties Additions Together
If you drive up the winding roads in the hills above Chatsworth in the northwest San Fernando Valley, be sure to take a sports car or a Jeep.
The roads are narrow and often potholed, but the trip to the Box Canyon area is worth it for the views alone. The houses are nothing special architecturally--except for the Gifford House.
It combines a Southwestern style of architecture with railing details that recall the designs of such legendary Los Angeles architects as R.M. Schindler, Richard Neutra and Thornton Abell.
From the outside it’s virtually impossible to guess that the unified design started out as three separate structures: An 800-square-foot concrete block house, an addition with a living room and two bedrooms and a master bedroom suite added on top of the living room.
Architect Mark Fuote of Arkineto Architects, 1331 Washington Blvd., Venice, responded to the request of the Giffords that he use his talents to turn the three additions into one architectural statement.
“They suggested the Southwestern style of architecture as being appropriate to the rugged hillside area, with its backdrop of bare rocks,” Fuote said.
His design consisted of gutting most of the first floor, building a new kitchen inside the existing space, adding a foyer area and tiling all the floors.
The house was sandblasted and new stucco was applied in a Southwestern motif, with scoring and projections and glass-block details that were punched into the exterior walls. The feeling of openess was enhanced with a new sun patio in the rear and balconies on the upper levels which lend a flowing “pueblo” feeling to the house.
The transformation was accomplished with a budget of $110,000, Fuote said, adding that Michaelson Construction of Reseda, the general contractor, performed admirably. Considering the cost of new houses and the value of the large endless-view lot--the owners have a horse--the price is surprisingly affordable.
One of my rules of remodeling is that if you can tell the house was remodeled, it is flawed: The project should look as if it were designed to be a unified whole. The Gifford House passes this test with flying colors.
