Mardi and Anton Watts’s house sits snugly between its neighbors on a sun-drenched, pedestrian-only street in Hermosa Beach, California. From the front deck, cooled by breezes from the Pacific, they can watch an easygoing procession of passersby clad in shorts and flip-flops.

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The couple had moved into a 1950s bungalow on the property, a few blocks from the beach, when they bought it nine years ago. But after about five years of living there, they craved more space and contemporary amenities and turned to Ras-a Studio for help.

Lead principal Robert Sweet soon determined that a renovation wouldn’t be enough. Instead, the firm designed a new two-story home with a roof deck, an airy stack of wood-slatted boxes that complements both the area’s low-slung midcentury bungalows and its taller, more recent developments. The challenge became making the most of the tight lot while meeting the city’s car-conscious zoning requirements.

“How do we get enough public space on the ground floor when Hermosa Beach dictates you need a two-car garage,” Sweet recalls thinking as he grappled with the city’s limitations. “We were kind of scratching our heads.”

Mardi’s father suggested a one-car garage equipped with a mechanical car lift. But when the couple shared the idea with Sweet, he was convinced that the planning department wouldn’t go for it. “I called the city in front of them so that they could hear it directly. Then the assistant planner we spoke with actually said yes, we could do a mechanical lift. "I was shocked,” he remembers, laughing. “So we went that route, but I was still apprehensive. I went to the city and double-checked everything about the drawings. Sure enough, we went through the gauntlet of approvals and got a big stamp to move forward.”

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Construction began in July 2016. After six months of work, the foundation was laid, the first story was framed, and the second level was beginning to take shape. That’s when Sweet got an email from the city insisting they stop work on the house. “It was very nonchalant,” he says. “It said there was an error. Mechanical lifts aren’t allowed, and we needed to build a two-car garage.”

“We wanted to build a house where we could enjoy what’s special about where we live.”
—Anton Watts, resident

It was a roadblock that could have thrown their plans drastically off course, but the couple decided to take action. The next month they got a hearing before the city council. “We made the point that no one would want to build a home here in the future if the city was going to pull the plug halfway through,” Anton says.

Then it was the city’s turn to be shocked. Nearly 50 people came to support the Wattses at the hearing. These were their neighbors who wave at them every day, the locals who participate in their street’s annual chili cook-off. They testified about the couple’s commitment to the community as well as their right to have a home built according to the approved plans.

The council voted to allow the mechanical lift to stay. Sweet was able to finish the home as his firm had envisioned it. The 2,100-square-foot house provides enough room for the family of four, and its beach-appropriate aesthetic continues to impress friends who stop by.

"People walk in and ask what the square footage is,” Mardi says. “The home has such a cool illusion of more space.”

The result is a layout that feels roomy and intuitive, belying the complexity of the design and all the strategy that was required to bring the project to fruition. Throughout the home, Sweet kept the material palette simple and consistent, using Western red cedar for the exterior siding as well as for the ceilings and some of the interior walls.

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But he also added texture, starting with a patterned divider made of concrete blocks that faces visitors as they enter the living area. A few feet away, a double-height, white oak and steel staircase wraps around a grand piano that once belonged to Anton’s father. One of Mardi’s favorite features on the ground floor is the sleek, three-sided fireplace, which can be enjoyed from the dining area, the family room, and the patio.

Upstairs a library and office are situated in the hallway between two bedrooms and the master suite. On both levels—as well as via a terrace on the roof—the couple found opportunities to play up the house’s connection to the outdoors.

Balconies abut bedrooms on the second floor, providing ocean views. On the ground floor, a 27-foot sliding glass door stretches nearly the full length of the property’s west-facing side. It opens to a landscaped patio and expands the common area by about six feet. “It gives us some privacy when we’re entertaining,” Mardi says. “You can sit back and use it, rather than using only the front deck.”

That’s not to say that Mardi and Anton want to be entirely separated from their neighbors. After all, it was their neighbors who helped make this home a reality. But every once in a while, it’s nice to have the place to themselves.

Project Credits:

Architecture: ras-a-studio /@ras_a.studio

General Contracting: ras-a-BUILD llc / @ras_a.studio

Engineering: McCullum Engineering

Civil Engineering: Riahi Engineering

Landscaping: Jones Landscapes / @joneslandscapes.la

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It Took a Neighborhood to Build This Beachside Bungalow