CA Boom V Saturday filled with familiar faces... and some cool houses.
Has the suspense gotten to you yet? At long last, we put you out of your misery. And the bling was worth the wait... lots of picture galleries for you modern home loving peops.
Day 2 of the guided home tour takes us around West Los Angeles and it feels sorta like homecoming. It just so happens that Neil Denari, Chris Genik and Kevin Daly all instructed some of us at SCI-Arc years ago, and nothing like getting those boys back for the countless sleepless nights they made us spend cutting basswood and atomizing onto mylar we say, so let’s have at it.
Gallery: Alan Family House
Neil M. Denari Architects, Inc.
Gallery: Red Barn Prefab
MXA Development
Gallery: Anderson Residence
Jesse Bornstein Architecture
Gallery: Creative Living Space
Delta H Design
Gallery: Mar Vista House
Daly Genik Architects
Alan Family House by Neil M. Denari Architects, Inc.
Alan House Gallery
Neil was actually standing outside his latest project, so we chatted for a second while gazing at this small and rather unusual addition from the backyard. It’s refreshing to see Mr. Denari’s formerly exclusively digital style translated into physical buildings, and this addition comes at you with an unusual color scheme, a different set of shapes, and an overall sort of Jetsons meets Wallpaper feel. Large open space family room, white, floating stairs that lead you to a very stark and spacious kitchen, a clean but slightly tight master bedroom and adjacent bath, and the ubiquitous presence of that swoopy airplane aesthetic that could have been considered Neil’s brand for a while now. The juxtaposition of the original building and this space-age appendage makes this house all the more interesting to look at, and the gloating owners are of course the ultimate proof of a successful project.
Residence by Red Barn Prefab
Red Barn Gallery
We had seen previous projects from this pre-fab development group on a past CA Boom tour, so this report could be considered a kind of sequel. We like Red Barn’s idea of, as the name predicts, using a barn structure and turning it into a home. The double-height spaces are expansive and pleasantly light-filled due to an abundance of windows, and overall the project works quite well, especially when one considers the $250 per square foot price tag. However, sequels tend to bring shortfalls with them, and there are a few design missteps and hiccups throughout, which we assume are the result of not having an architect involved in the project? Aside from the main space the rooms feel somewhat uninspired and bland, most of the ducting seems to have been an afterthought, and the decision to locate the condenser immediately under a bedroom window... ayayay. The main living space is light-filled and airy, an absolute pleasure to be in, and we salute the owner/developer for making things happen and following through on this idea.
Anderson Residence by Jesse Bornstein Architecture
Anderson Residence Gallery
The Anderson Residence is a nicely designed single family dwelling that manages to showcase one of the inherent challenges to prefab: cost per square foot. This house is a custom designed project that Mr. Bornstein informed us came in between $200 and $225 per square foot, so the argument for going prefab was just reduced to "time" and nothing else. Innovative uses of materials, such as anodized sheet metal on the exterior and interior, were used for bang for the buck, loads of windows give access to that Southern California sun, and the overall space planning is successful and mostly logical. Unfortunately we are still waiting on interior pics of this project, since we were not allowed to take any ourselves, but we will update you as soon as something drops into out mailbox.
Creative Living Space by Delta H Design
Creative Living Space Gallery
This project was also quite unusual in almost every aspect, and some people would deem it as "interesting." This structure is another example of good individual ideas that failed to make a coherent whole, probably also due to lack of a "lead professional." Most contractors would probably beat the previous statement out of me, but if just shows when someone puts together a space and living idea based on an untrained background. There can be strokes of genius in cases like this, and Delta H Design managed to pull one off via the master bathroom and the finishes and configuration used in this situation. The entire floor space is one big floating wood deck, which goes very nicely with the patina tile on the walls. Then one of the owners folds out two long glass doors, which had been resting flush against the wall, and the gigantic shower magically appears and disappears just like that. The drain and shower pan is concealed under the deck... Magic!
Mar Vista House by Daly Genik Architects
Mar Vista House Gallery
Chris and Kevin’s addition from 2000 is a nicely crafted piece of design inspiration. We weren't able to get Neil back for the slave driving way back when, and unfortunately DGA also produced work too good for us to knock with our usual cheap shots. This light-filled cube with sliding partitions that disappear disguised like built-ins when open, twin wall that did not yellow or weather at all in its 8 years of being exposed to the elements, a clear floor plan and nice juxtaposition between the original Ain structure and the addition… Good work gents, light, the blurring of inside and outside, lots of details and custom pieces... There are plenty of projects from the era that look very very dated and frankly silly (by big names that shall remain... ah, what the hell, I am talking about...)but this one definitely still holds its own.
Stay tuned for the Sunday Spectacular!