Jewel Box

A very compact lot challenged the opposing needs of house vs. yard at this Palo Alto Residence.
Clients Di and Pingyang are a young couple who were recent transplants from Seattle. They planned to have children and wanted a home to grow with them. Both work in tech, and the wife has a thriving side business as a floral designer and owner of an online boutique, Slow Sunday, selling modern, minimalist Japanese wares. They desired a home that would be their sanctuary outside their busy professional lives and a place that could serve as a modern backdrop for personal design experimentation while supporting the wife’s growing business.

The clients desired guidance on planning and designing a home to work for them but had never worked with an architect before. After a series of interviews, they were immediately drawn to Palo Alto firm Ogawa Fisher Architects, known for their warm modernist, joyful, light-filled spaces. At first, the team explored a remodel of the existing structure, but it became clear that the floor plan and the placement on the lot were not ideal for the way the owners wanted to live. A new home proved to be the right path forward, allowing everything to be the right size and location for their needs.

Ogawa Fisher Architects embraced the border between closed and open by creating a series of rooms and moments that bring the experience of the outdoors inside and a sense of protection and comfort to the exterior. The resulting house resembles a jewel box: small, quiet, and unassuming on the outside, rich and expansive on the inside.

Given the small lot and proximity to the street, privacy was a significant concern. The final design resulted in a series of volumes: a long primary box shields the house from its two-story neighbor to the south, while a smaller and lighter adjacent volume respects its one-story neighbor to the north. This strategic massing also creates shading for outdoor living areas. Careful window placement and an enclosed front courtyard provide privacy from the street without sacrificing access to light and air.

Rooms spill into one another and to the outdoors to maximize their space and usability. Doubling up functions in larger, open rooms were favored (cooking/eating, sleeping/reading, moving/resting, bathing/clothes washing) over a more compartmentalized layout. The interior living room almost triples in size when the doors on both ends are open to the front and back outdoor living areas.

“Hiromi and Lynn were so good at walking us through the design process and picked up on the things we liked immediately.” Says Di when asked about the process of working with OFA. “Their design delivered. The result is a bright, happy house with lots of light and a romantic touch. We love that it’s practical yet far from boring”.

The real bonus is a rear detached garage that now doubles as Di’s floral design studio and self-proclaimed “hideaway.” Having a dedicated space to scale her business while still working a full-time job has been invaluable. She has already done 20-30 weddings since moving in. Outside, landscape plants irrigated by laundry wastewater can be used in arrangements and bouquets.