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The owners of this each
house decided to leave Los Angeles and find a tranquil, natural setting
in which to raise their two small daughters. They made the move in
increments, first renting a house near the beach outside Santa Barbara.
They quickly discovered how much they loved the area and the easy-going
beach lifestyle. The couple purchased an existing house and called
on architect Andy Neumann, well known for his beach houses, to help
them remodel it. At the eleventh hour, however, they realized that
the house would never be what they really wanted for their family,
so they canceled the remodeling project. Eventually, they purchased
an ocean-front lot, and once again they called on Andy, this time
to design their ideal family home from the ground up.
The owners wanted their new home to be user-friendly, private, and
beach oriented. It was to be a functional place where the kids could
have fun, where they could all be comfortable, and where family and
friends would always be welcome. They wanted a cottage-scaled house
with a variety of living spaces – open, expansive rooms that
would take in the sweeping view of the California coastline, as well
as intimate nooks where parents and children could cuddle up together
and read storybooks.
It was important to the owners that every room in the house be used
and enjoyed and that the family heirlooms be integrated into the everyday
life of the home. They required a separate, private office for the
husband, as well as a home office for the wife that wouldn't isolate
her from the children. And finally, they wanted a place of honor for
their vintage piano and a high, peaked ceiling so that they could
put up a really big Christmas tree every December.
The home that Andy designed for this family is a quintessential beach
house, reminiscent of the shingled Cape-style beach cottages found
on Martha's Vineyard but with a decidedly sophisticated California
feel. To the couple that lives here, life is all about family, having
fun together, and creating happy memories, so no place in this home
is off-limits to the children and their friends. Public rooms are
informal, and materials are durable and easy to maintain.
The living room and formal dining room flank the entry hallway, making
up the center of the home. All four sets of the children's great-grandparents
are represented here, either in photographs on the walls or in the
furniture that the family uses and enjoys everyday. Beyond the dining
room, the integrated family room/kitchen features a spacious central
work island. While the kitchen can comfortably accommodate multiple
cooks, the homeowners requested the work island for social reasons
– it became a favorite spot for family and friends to gather
around for snacking, chatting, and visiting with the cook.
The master suite shares a bedroom wing with the children's bedrooms,
although parents are separated from kids by a library hallway and
a short flight of stairs. It's enough distance for Mom and Dad to
have a sense of their own privacy, but not so much that the girls
feel isolated. The girls' bedrooms are placed side by side and are
connected by a large, shared closet.
Although the girls' rooms were originally planned as two separate
bedrooms, the girls enjoy a close relationship and chose to use one
room for sleeping and the other room for play. As they grow older,
it's likely they'll want the privacy of separate bedrooms once again.
Above the bedrooms, a loft play space is tucked up under the eaves.
The loft features a railing and louvered doors at one end that open
out over the stairway and landing. A "secret" play area
like this utilizes otherwise unused space in a house, but more important,
it is a special hideaway that a child will use, cherish, and remember
forever.
Tale of Two Offices
This house features two variations on home offices, and each one fulfills
a very different purpose. The wife needed a place to take care of
household paperwork, bill paying, and correspondence, and she asked
that the office not isolate her from the children. Rather than giving
her an alcove in the family room or a small desk in the kitchen –
solutions often seen in family homes – Andy placed her office
and an adjoining sitting area for the children on the stairway and
landings that lead to the girls' bedrooms.
When Mom is working at her desk, the girls are often nearby in their
sitting area, playing or doing their homework. Everyone likes having
Mom right there in case she's needed, but because she is right there,
the kids typically leaver her alone so she can get her work done.
The husband, a writer, needed office space that placed him well away
from the distractions of family activities. While he originally asked
Andy for a secluded office in the house, complicated zoning restrictions
made that problematic. In fact, the zoning restrictions and a neighbor's
easement gave Andy the idea of putting the office in an entirely separate
structure. Built as a two-story tower, the office is upstairs to capture
the sweeping view of the ocean, and a beach cabana is downstairs.
The office is the husband's primary work space, and although it's
only 25 steps from the house, having to travel even this short distance
helps to separate family life from work time. "I can look up
from what I'm doing, turn around, see the house, and be reminded of
the enormous mortgage I have to pay – it keeps me working,"
jokes the homeowner.
Making the Most
of It
According to architect Andy Neumann, the site for this house presented
many challenges, as well as many opportunities. County height restrictions
influenced the overall shape of the structure. To maintain the charm
of beach architecture, Andy broke the space up into gabled units,
reminiscent of a cluster of New England fishing cottages.
The lot, set at an angle to the ocean, offered a wonderful opportunity
that greatly influenced the footprint of the house. Andy realized
that he cold bring ocean views to two sides of the structure by setting
each section in steps back from the beach, a strategy that blended
especially with the multiple-gable idea. The result was that every
room in the house has a view of the ocean.
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