This project is a ground-up 2,400 square foot family home and art studio in the Mar Vista neighborhood.

The project was conceived as two independent structures to allow for the flexibility to change the studio use to an ADU use down the road. Shaped like a boomerang, a white two-story bar pulls away from an expressive red folded box creating a shared entryway to both structures. Playing off the shape of the box, the bar’s subtle angle expands views through the home to the gardens outside.

Structures are carefully located on the site to maximize opportunities for a variety of outdoor rooms and more fluid use of the entire lot. Every room opens directly to a patio or deck, large multi-slide doors in the main living space connect it to the pool patio and the studio space spills onto a street courtyard for large art projects.

A long skylight through the middle of the house defines the circulation path and brings natural light deep into the space. Outside, a modest materials palette of textured plaster is softened with warm wood accents and planting and the red color pop (inspired by a strawberry bush at the owner’s former home) of the art studio adds surprise. Inside, primary finishes create a neutral backdrop for playful details and color accents as well as allowing the owner’s furniture collection to shine.