Modern House Exteriors

Photograph by Matthew Millman from West Coast Modern by Zahid Sardar, reprint permission by Gibbs Smith Publisher.

A redwood barrel vault entryway invites visitors to the house. An impressive feature that transitions from outdoor to indoor space, it posed a technical challenge.

The deep red aluminum window exteriors are a nod to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. The architect would visit Brian's mother's restaurant supply store in Madison, Wisconsin, where he picked up necessities to cook for his students.

Ample windows cut into the north elevation of the Valentine House, behind which live the architects. The openings reveal lofty double-height spaces inside. The ground-floor garage often serves as a shop for architectural model-making.

The triangle is the home’s leitmotiv, appearing in the cantilevered bedroom module and the steps approaching the entrance.

“It didn’t bother me to do a house with a lot of things half the size of what people think is normal,” John Picard says of his half-lot home (above) in Manhattan Beach. The home’s steel frame offers a maximum expanse of glass. Because of the small footprint, Picard wanted every inch of the living space to be usable—which is made possible by the steel frame and a service core that runs the entire height of the building.

Architects Tiffany Bowie and Joe Malboeuf’s Capitol Hill, Seattle, infill project was completed for $189 per square foot. Its street-facing facade is clad in prefinished siding from Taylor Metals, and cedar shaped and cut with CNC technology. The couple was inspired by the porthole windows of the Maritime Hotel in New York City, one of their favorite buildings.

The large sliding doors are a telescoping design, which means they fit into one another and can therefore maximize the opening to the yard.

Tall and surprisingly open, the Tel Aviv Town House by Pitsou Kedem Architects continues in the tradition of its Bauhaus-inspired neighbors with a white facade and black window frames.

The front facade features Cor-Ten steel fabricated by Praxy Cladding.

The main building sinks then elevates in full view of ocean.

Photo by Patrick Barta

Timber battens were used on north-facing windows to prevent excessive heat in the summer. The exterior is clad in Scyon’s Linea weatherboard and covered in Dylux’s Western Myall paint. Beneath the upper floor, a little nook makes for the perfect covered carport and storage spot for surfboards.

When the residents of this weekend home in Carmel, California, approach the property, the house’s smart-tech systems prepare the dwelling for their arrival by turning on the heat and lights and opening the blinds. Wildlife are frequent visitors here, but the area’s active woodpeckers aren’t very welcome, so the house is clad in corrugated metal siding by Recla Metals.

Scott MacFiggen and Regina Bustamante, tech industry veterans from Silicon Valley, called on architect Christi Azevedo to rebrand a fusty house in San Francisco’s Noe Valley, starting with the street view. Cedar boards, charred using the Japanese technique shou sugi ban, replaced plywood siding.

On the more high-tech end are renderings, which were historically done by hand but now are often done on a computer. Whereas architectural drawings provide a flat, orthographic view, renderings provide a more three-dimensional understanding of a space. Renderings can really help those who have trouble visualizing spaces, because they can be so refined and carefully done that they almost resemble photographs.

“I simply was drawn to the notion of concrete. So much great modern architecture has made use of it,” Blauvelt says.

Modernist principles inform the 2008 Zeidler residence, which explores integration with site and nature, negative space, and rich materials. Yanai and Rhee will explore this in the context of the firm's recent work.