The design elevates the home above the ground to ensure water tightness and provide ventilation for the floor slab.
Up-and-coming Argentinian architect Florencia Rissotti’s first built-from-scratch residence is an homage to simple living.
Byron Courtyard House floor plan
The redesigned rear facade wraps around a central courtyard. “We had to keep the overall shape of the house,” says Fougeron, referring to the city’s stringent building codes, “so we started to weave the design into the existing conditions.” The chairs are from B&B Italia.
The 300-year-old beech tree supplies shade, movement, sound, and color to the site, and provides a towering natural counterpoint to the renovated home's long, low expanses of glass.
Thick custom casework surrounds a set of solid mahogany lift-and-slide pocket doors.
Today, a California live oak blocks a view from the street, and a massive pine sits in the front courtyard—in addition to a Japanese maple, bamboo, and other specimens. Here is a look into the second courtyard and a covered patio off the kitchen.
The original architectural model provides an overview of the structure from front to back, starting at the right. Covered patios, courtyards, and rooftop gardens fill exterior spaces.