“If I had built this house after design school, it would have felt like a warehouse, all cold concrete and glass,” says Susie St. John, founder of Embrio Design Studio in San Diego. But supporting her mother through years battling cancer in environs ill-suited to someone with impaired mobility fundamentally redefined Susie’s concept of home.

The 2,740-square-foot, butterfly-roofed house she designed for herself, husband Rick, and their 11-year-old son, Otto, in Carlsbad, California, is squarely focused on family, including extended family in the area. “I wanted it to feel like a home for everyone, like somebody giving you a hug,” she says.

Four bedrooms connect to a double-height kitchen/living/dining space—half the size of the whole house—where sunlight streams through a wall of steel-framed windows. An everyone’s-welcome, 12-and-a-half-foot-long table accommodates large family dinners thanks to 14 Eames chairs (salvaged by a friend who was redesigning Chipotle’s nearby headquarters).

“Someone snidely asked if we were building a rec center. I thought, This is what architecture should be about, asking, what is a home, what could it be?”
—Susie St. John, designer and resident

“A great room is not for everyone,” says Susie. “But for me, it was about drawing my family out, witnessing them grow, enjoying each other’s company.” Construction was also a communal affair. Susie acted as general contractor, and friends pitched in at every stage.

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For the designer, building a home for everyone also meant considering not just the people they are now, but who they will become as they age, an approach that is reflected in the home’s entry ramp and wheelchair-accessible halls and showers.

“Those are the features that would have made my mom’s life significantly easier—and definitely more enjoyable—both for her and those who cared for her,” says Susie. “And these are the features that will allow us to stay in this home forever.”

Project Credits:

Architecture & Design: Embrio Design Studio and Deskin Building Design

Engineering: Wynn Engineering

Civil Engineering: TheSea Bright Company

Interior & Landscape Design: EmbrioDesign Studio

Cabinetry: Environmental Builders

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A California Designer Creates a Home That Will Last a Lifetime