Keep the Home Fires Burning
Using wood for heat and energy keeps the Wadhams’ environmental footprint small and helps avoid the use of coal- or nuclear-powered electricity. Come winter, the couple relies on an Esse wood-burning stove for cooking, heating, and feeding a set of small radiators. In summer, they use the stove’s electric component, which is powered by solar energy.
Concrete stairs leading up to a sleeping loft are illuminated with wall sconces.
The old wood floors throughout the open-plan space are painted a dark eggplant. The vintage PP19 armchair is by Hans J. Wegner for PP Møbler. The painting above it is by Ruben Toledo, a friend of Peter Fehrentz, the resident. A trio of Tom Dixon lights hangs over the Pirkka dining table, with bench seating by Ilmari Tapiovaara for Artek. The Berber rug is from Morocco, purchased from the Paris shop Caravane.
By eliminating walls and incorporating a series of interior gardens, architect José Roberto Paredes creates an eclectic and inspired El Salvador beach house. In the kitchen, rough-hewn materials like a eucalyptus-log-and-thatch roof offset the monolithic concrete island and glossy subway tile backsplash. Claudia & Harry Washington built the vivid wooden sliding walls, which are inspired by the palm leaves that change color and create diagonal patterns in trees near the house. The bar stools were a street market discovery.
The surrounding, rolling landscape of this Malibu home influenced designer Bruce Bolander’s use of green on the cabinets and appliances in this kitchen.