Discover new design ideas every day. Sign up for Dwell’s newsletter
SubscribeSign In
r
Collection by Roxana Lopez-Truong

The Great Outdoors

View 5 Photos
Unassuming by day, the exterior glimmers in the evening thanks to punctures that mimic the night sky. Photo by: Philip Cheung
Unassuming by day, the exterior glimmers in the evening thanks to punctures that mimic the night sky. Photo by: Philip Cheung
The art studio at the Garten & Reid Residence is located across the rear yard, and acts as a contemporary counterpoint to the house’s midcentury leanings.
The art studio at the Garten & Reid Residence is located across the rear yard, and acts as a contemporary counterpoint to the house’s midcentury leanings.
The bones of the original 1940s Garten & Reid Residence are intact; architect Molly Reid played off the 1969 addition with late-mid-century references.
The bones of the original 1940s Garten & Reid Residence are intact; architect Molly Reid played off the 1969 addition with late-mid-century references.
For Gabriel Ramirez and his partner Sarah Mason Williams, following the Sea Ranch rules—local covenants guide new designs—didn’t mean slipping into Sea Ranch clichés. The architects love Cor-Ten steel, with its ruddy and almost organic surface, and they made it the main exterior material, along with board-formed concrete and ipe wood. The Cor-Ten, which quickly turned an autumnal rust in the sea air, and the concrete, with its grain and crannies, mean the house isn’t a pristine box, Ramirez says. His Neutra house “was very crisp and clean,” he says. “This house is more distressed, more wabi-sabi.”
For Gabriel Ramirez and his partner Sarah Mason Williams, following the Sea Ranch rules—local covenants guide new designs—didn’t mean slipping into Sea Ranch clichés. The architects love Cor-Ten steel, with its ruddy and almost organic surface, and they made it the main exterior material, along with board-formed concrete and ipe wood. The Cor-Ten, which quickly turned an autumnal rust in the sea air, and the concrete, with its grain and crannies, mean the house isn’t a pristine box, Ramirez says. His Neutra house “was very crisp and clean,” he says. “This house is more distressed, more wabi-sabi.”