Winning Streaks
From the plain exterior of this stucco bungalow, one would never guess at the dramatic interior, where glimmering reflections from a nearby lap pool dance across the walls and ceiling of a Modernist triangular living area.
Owners Leslie Weil, a writer, and her husband, Scott, who does voice-overs and photography, spend much of their time working at home. The couple were planning to start a family, so they went searching for a house with free-flowing space, great light, a rational layout, warmth and beauty. The enclave of late-1940s houses by Gregory Ain in the West L.A. neighborhood of Mar Vista convinced them they could be happy in a Modernist home, but soaring prices were prohibitive. The Weils settled for a modest stucco bungalow close by. It had few of the spatial qualities they wanted, but its location and large garden were attractive trade-offs.
The couple commissioned architects Ron Godfredsen and Danna Sigal to remodel the bungalow. After gutting the existing house--saving only two bedrooms--the architects removed the roof and reconfigured the living area as a new master suite that opens onto a serene gravel courtyard with a blue cedar behind the front wall. A charcoal soapstone tub projects through the glass into the court to create the illusion of bathing outdoors. The master bedroom and a family room open onto a patio and look out to the garage, which was turned into a skylighted studio.
The tapered entry foyer serves as a hinge between old and new and leads into the new living area. There a wall lined with custom cabinets conceals the kitchen appliances and supplies from the adjoining living room,
Scott had dreamed of creating a Soho loft in L.A., where guests could walk out into the sunlight, and his wife wanted to be able to entertain from the kitchen. Both got their wish. A two-way fireplace is set into the glass wall at one end of the living area, and the roof extends over the adjoining patio that is treated as an outdoor living room, with Philippe Starck club chairs drawn up to the hearth. Nearby, the kitchen counter, dining table and sitting areas form islands on the polished concrete floor.
The house has grown from 1,100 to 2,700 square feet of enclosed space, but feels far more expansive. The pool’s reflection in the glass makes it appear as if the water is flowing across the living room floor. A tapered soffit tilts gently down over the pool, reflecting light onto the indoor ceiling canopy, which is supported by slender steel columns.
“We wanted to layer the space and create places your eyes can walk to even if your feet can’t,” Sigal says. “Wherever you stand, you are looking across the pool to another part of the house.” Doors and windows open for cross-ventilation, and the concrete floor absorbs the heat of the winter sun. The windows also frame a drought-resistant, dog-tolerant “meadow” of native grasses, which offer another layer of color and texture.
The Weils had hoped for a house that was warm as well as modern, and the architects satisfied that need with the cabinets and joinery of straight-grain Douglas fir, and the subtle shifts of color from one room to the next.
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Resource Guide
Godfredsen Sigal Architects, Venice, (310) 664-0302.