The new estate residence of 7980 s.f. is located on a 25,700 s.f. lot close to Lacy Park in San Marino. The house combines forms from the Arts & Crafts movement with Monterey and Spanish eclectic elements to become its own Progressive Pasadena style in a lush garden setting. This house has been featured in the Los Angeles Dwell on Design Home Tour, two AIA P&F home tours, and has hosted numerous fund-raising events.
The client wanted the biggest house possible and a fully developed site. The Project cost was $1.88M.
The exterior of the house is exactly as designed and built in 1998 and is being maintained in perfect condition to this day by the original owner. The interior of the house 20 years later also is unchanged.
The architect designed the entire project including the site plan and landscaping, exterior and interior architecture, all finishes and detailing, and assisted the owner with furniture selections. The eclectic furnishings include contemporary modern classics, antique Asian pieces and Asian Arts & Crafts inspired furniture designed by the Architect. Feng Shui principals are used in the floor plan and architectural elements. The architect also provided major construction observation of the entire process.
The two-story house provides quiet and inspiring indoor/outdoor spaces. Every room connects to the gardens and verandas, allowing for lots of natural light. Garden features include a pool and Jacuzzi, dining trellis, barbeque area, fire pit, meditation gardens and hidden garden toilet facility, and 22 different exotic fruit trees.
The floor plan is based on a semi-formal great room concept with the dining room separated from the kitchen by an art passage with wine cellar access. The large kitchen, which opens up to the family room, includes a breakfast niche and a cooking alcove that hides the food prep area from the entertainment part of the kitchen.
Each of the six bedrooms has its own special veranda, dressing room and bath alcoves. The master suite, with its Feng Shui garden veranda, has views of Catalina.
Reclaimed green slate roofing, integral color plaster walls, terracotta stepped walls and chimney caps, heavy timber Douglas Fir beams stained transparent black were used on the exterior with black steel windows and clear vertical grain Douglas fir trim and mahogany throughout the interiors.
A special challenge was the notorious San Marino Design Review Board, but we received a 5 to 0 approval at the first meeting which prompted citizens in the audience to ask for our business cards on the way out. Another challenge was the clients themselves. The wife paid for the house so the husband had nothing to say about its design. The husband was paying for the site improvements and the wife had nothing to say about it. It was a very awkward situation.
This 20-year-old house is a contextual culmination of the architectural elements that combine to make San Marino/ Pasadena architecturally so interesting. We are thankful to have a client that plans to maintain it to reach historical age significance.
