The laid-back zone
Architect Steven Shortridge’s living room has sky for a ceiling. The 16-by-20-foot outdoor room he calls his “front-side yard” is nearly half the size of his Lilliputian (750 square feet) Venice home. “Having a room open to the sky and air was more important to me than having more inside space,” he says.
The one-bedroom house faces the street, a former Venice canal that was filled in in the late ‘20s. Shortridge reoriented the house away from the street by creating a new entrance off a side alley along the home’s east side.
A translucent fiberglass-and-concrete paneled door in the alley wall opens directly into his outdoor living room. Bamboo, queen palms and pepper and plum trees planted inside the redwood fence form lush green walls around the concrete floor he set 1 1/2 feet above grade. Directly opposite the home’s front entrance, with its cantilevered awning, a rusted steel wall and fire pit add drama.
The architect’s comfortable custom furnishings appoint the space. No plastic chaise longues or redwood tables with splintery benches are in sight. Instead, a pair of mahogany daybed-size sofas with deep foam cushions and chunky bolsters provide a spot for lounging and reading in front of the fireplace.
Nearby, his 72-inch-long mahogany dining table and leprechaun-green Vico Magistretti Gaudi chairs seat six comfortably for casual sit-down dinners. Pushed to the edge of the deck, the table serves as a spacious bar for larger gatherings.
Shortridge says he often eats breakfast outside, and sits by the fire at night listening to music from his outdoor speakers; occasionally he even sleeps under the stars. “It was very important for me to have a garden,” he says. “At the same time I needed more living space. The outdoor room, with its plants and furniture, allows me to have both.”
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Resource Guide
Callas Shortridge Architects, Culver City, (310) 280-0404; www.callas-shortridge.com. Landscaping by Jay Griffith and Russ Cletta, Griffith & Cletta Inc., Venice, (310) 399-4727. Six-foot mahogany dining table and sofas available through the architect. Perennials Chameleon fabric in Rain Forest and Palm Tree, at David Sutherland showroom, Pacific Design Center, West Hollywood, (310) 360-1777. Ramon Esteve “Na Xemena” anodized aluminum and polyethylene lounge, $1,645, at Diva, Los Angeles, (310) 278-3191. F-board concrete panels, at Foundry Service & Supplies Inc., Santa Fe Springs, (562) 945-6511.