Architectural designer Sebastian Mariscal and project manager Jeff Svitak created a house in Venice, California, for Michael and Tamami Sylvester. Known as Dwell Home Venice for its role as an exemplification of modern architecture, the house is an homage to indoor-outdoor living. Photo by Coral von Zumwalt.
Maintaining a connection to their wooded backyard was an important consideration for the Edstroms. The back wall is designed to let in as much light and air as possible.
To keep their project affordable, Shelton and Stuth (with Augie, a friend’s child) gambled on an up-and-coming neighborhood.
A couple—he an entrepreneur working in logistics, she a stay-at-home mother—bought an 8,500-square-foot house here and approached JSa, a Mexico City-based architectural firm, with the idea of remodeling it. The house was poorly sited on its lot in a manner that drew very little natural light. The architects sized it up and quickly realized that the best solution would be to tear it down and start from scratch.
Today, as in the 1970s, the central courtyard is an oasis within the city. Along with a pool, the area is also home to a market-centric restaurant.
For architect Javier Sanchez of JSa Arquitectura, the transformation from motel to (boutique) hotel began with "urban-archeological work," as his team researched the structure's past lives. Digging through decades' worth of renovations, and, virtually, through Google Images, they found inspiration in the relaxed poolside glamour of the interior courtyard in its heyday—then updated it by losing dated touches like the AstroTurf patio and by streamlining the swimming pool into a modern, glass-edged refuge.
The two-tone corrugated metal cladding helps the sheds blend into the landscape, along with windows custom-colored by the manufacturer to match.
During the daytime, the house is completely illuminated by natural light. Other energy-efficient features come in the form of the house's super thick building envelope, radiant floor heating, and cross-ventilation.