Farmhouse draws praise, scorn

I enjoyed your story “Not a Scrap of Gingham,” March 13, about a modern farmhouse in Studio City. It’s nice to see great design coupled with “cost-saving” ideas and materials.

Mary Jane Headlee

Santa Barbara

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I’m sorry that Vanessa Choy and Andrew Wong were unable to find a house in Brentwood or Westwood, because it would have spared our neighborhood of their oversized house. The house is a good demonstration of the problem of specifying the house size relative to the lot size. Although the house may cover “only a quarter” of the lot, its appearance is much greater because it sits on a corner lot with minimal landscaping to mitigate its size. The statement that they chose the peaked roof to blend with the neighborhood is laughable. It’s a 6,200-square-foot house in a neighborhood that has historically had houses in the 1,500- to 2,000-square-foot range and is transitioning to 3,000- to 3,500-square-foot houses. The mark of good architecture is to build a structure that harmonizes with the site. Theirs doesn’t.

Bruce Horn

Studio City

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THE reporter, Craig Nakano describes the home as a “farmhouse style.”

Since when does a facade that looks three stories high and has a few tiny windows remind him of a farmhouse? It looks more like a Whole Foods.

The architect-owners devoted most of their talents to creating a beautiful inner sanctuary with no regard to the exterior facade. Shame on them.

Margo Lea

Studio City

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I’d like to have the same shame. Very nice home.

Rick Soto

Los Altos