Los Angeles County, CA

The clients are an older couple who wanted their new home to reflect his love of California ranch architecture and her Japanese cultural heritage.

The house is sited on a large site punctuated with protected oak trees and a dry stream bed that channels water during heavy rain storms. The house has exterior walls of thick plaster resting on a natural stone base on top of which large structural wood beams form a high interior ceiling. Natural light from a linear skylight at the main ridge beam renders the interior with changing light throughout the day.

The effect is both strong and airy with a Californian ruggedness and the refinement and layering of traditional Japanese house architecture.