A Simple Box on a Hillside : Using Inventive Angles to Produce an Economical and Artful Design
THIS TWO-BEDROOM, two-bath, 2,000-square-foot house--designed by and for architect Ruben Ojeda--is a simple study in geometry and economy. “Economics was primary in ev ery aspect, from location to design,” he says. When Ojeda and his wife, Miriana, looked for land to build on, they picked the Mt. Washington area because of its quiet hills and relative affordability. They bought a hillside lot that not only had great view potential but also was flat and thus would not require costly foundation work.
Ojeda relied on the simplicity of a box to make his design easy to build and not too expensive. “My work leans toward the primitive and simple,” Ojeda says. “My wife and I like the look of natural materials, so what you see on the exterior is gray, smooth-troweled portland cement and wood-framed windows.”
Adhering to the box theory, the interior architecture is equally simple. Drawing an imaginary line down the center of the structure, Ojeda designed half the box as an open, two-story living /dining area. The other half contains a master bedroom and bath upstairs and a bedroom, bath, kitchen and laundry room downstairs.
White walls predominate throughout and reflect the light patterns of the many windows. To bring a touch of the exterior to the inside, the fireplace is finished with the same gray cement. Furnishings are kept to a minimum. Three metal tables in the living room were designed by Ojeda and made by Pamela Burgess. The only color to be found here is in the painted pillows by Eva Ohman.
The wood floor in the living room, another money-saving measure, is made of 4-foot squares of maple plywood attached to the sub-floor in each corner by a countersunk screw. Hardwood flooring would have cost three times as much.
Ojeda packed a lot of practicality and livability into his handsome box for about $63 per square foot. Not bad by today’s standards; the current average per-square-foot residential building cost is $100 or more.
