The Eternal City has inspired artists, historians, and philosophers over millennia. For architect Fred Fisher of Frederick Fisher and Partners, along with his wife, Jennie, and their two sons, Henry and Eugene, inspiration struck in 2008, during his fellowship at The American Academy in Rome.

“Our experience as a family living in Rome led directly to this project,” Fred says of the Ojai residence, which was completed in 2018. “I really wanted to build a house that was a contemporary version of an Italian villa. Jennie and I are both Rust Belt people, and we imagined this as a rusted barn on the hill.”

They chose a corrugated steel for the exterior, which imbues the home with an agrarian quality reflective of Ojai. The color is soft, timeless, and organic, and it blends harmoniously with the surrounding landscape—from the property’s old olive trees to its stately stone walls. “It looks like something that’s been here for a long time,” he explains.

As with many of his professional projects, Fred refers to his family’s home as a “memory device.” “Living in the house is in a way a memory of living in Rome…It embodies a lot of memories of our family and our life and our experiences together,” he shares.

Throughout the residence, there are spaces inspired by the Academy, such as the enviable library, which floats like a net or a “basket of books” from the mezzanine level. “This is our safe, sequestered retreat,” he says.

Both husband and wife are voracious readers, and Fred, whose firm is based in Los Angeles, has made the library his temporary office throughout the pandemic.

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In addition to the library’s cocoon of books, the well-loved space holds a fireplace and a daybed—the latter of which was inspired by a visit to Donald Judd’s residence in Marfa, Texas. “Judd put beds everywhere—he loved to take naps,” says Fred. “I’ve always remembered that.”

Other memories from the family’s story reveal themselves through collected art—be it a drawing by Guy Dill in the master bedroom, a photograph by Elyn Zimmerman, or a painting by Charles Arnoldi.

The couple also collaborated with artists on the project, including Roy McMakin, whose work in the kitchen reveals idiosyncratic design details, from the jubilant red island to the multi-colored Dutch door.

The stairwell offers its own artistic expression thanks to a raw steel, laser-cut guardrail featuring a random line pattern by Caltech Professor Peter Schroeder.

As in his professional projects, Fred’s love of light, texture, and emotion are evident throughout the home—from the rusted, corrugated exterior to the sunlit, loft-like interiors, as seen in the double-height living room and kitchen with its poured concrete floor. The loggia leading to Henry and Eugene’s rooms is inspired by hacienda architecture found throughout Mexico and Southern California.

Ojai’s serene landscapes were brought thoughtfully indoors, thanks to strategically placed windows that frame the home’s various vantage points. Fred sees these windowpanes, and the views beyond them, as pictures in their own right.

Framing is an integral component of Fred’s approach. “That’s been one of the most enduring themes in our work—thinking about architecture as a frame for something else,” he shares.

During this turbulent year, the family has embraced the Ojai sanctuary as a place to reflect on the past, live in the present, and plan for the future. “We believe life is characterized by change,” Fred says. “We don’t design a building for one particular use or one particular moment. It’s a palette that people are going to use and change and evolve with over time.”

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Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Frederick Fisher & Partners / @frederickfisherandpartners

Builder: Mike Fahrenkrug of Fahrenkrug Construction

Kitchen Designer: Roy McMakin

Photographer: Tim Street-Porter / @timstreetporter

Prefab Structural Insulated Panel System: MNM Mod

Pool: Craig Young Construction Company

Landscape Architect: Pamela Burton & Company / @pamelaburtonandcompany