Venice Residence

In a neighborhood concerned with overdevelopment, the staggered and varied massing of the three volumes of this home feel welcoming to a lively pedestrian culture while still defining a private boundary. Simple sloped roofs echo the character of traditional Venice cottages.

The entire living and entertaining spaces are completely opened by moving the large sliding glass doors to draw the ocean breezes through the house. Covered exterior spaces provide places to take advantage of the climate, but are also protected from the elements.

Typical of lots in Venice, our site was very narrow. The design balances the size of the home and programmatic needs for indoor living spaces against the size of the lot and adjacent homes. By making the living areas more compact, but opening them up both literally and figurally to the landscape, the design answers the question of appropriate scale in the neighborhood. The fusion of the interior and outdoor spaces has the effect of making the boundaries of the interior living space ambiguous, thereby increasing the perceived size of the space. The main living space flows into a covered outdoor dining room and outdoor lounge which then seamlessly connects to the pool, spa and garden.