The Choi-Pierson residence in Venice Beach, CA, the second home on a 3600 sq. ft. lot, is a compact, three-story dwelling huddled between the neighborhood’s densely packed homes and detached garages. There was just 700 sq. ft. available to design the 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath house for the family of four. By establishing clear hierarchies in building materials, using innovative interpretations of roof requirements, and configuring open stairs and landings as a means to interconnect floors, the homeowners, an architect and principal at (fer) studio and his wife, an environmental designer, have created a parsimoniously modern home that maximizes affordable sustainability and ultra-efficiency out of just 1390 sq. ft. of living space.

The vertically-stacked home hovers over an open two-car garage and garden on the first floor. The kitchen, living room and bathroom are situated above, with the master bedroom, on-suite bathroom, and two children’s bedrooms and shared bathroom on the top floor. To maximize every inch, there are just two interior walls in this home. All other separations are implied through spatial changes in structural millwork and glass. There are no interior hallways, and center-pivoting doors allow individual spaces, such as bedrooms, to open into larger combined family spaces. Built-ins do double and triple duty, like the credenza that guards the open staircase or the kids’ bathroom-closet cube that also divides their bedrooms. Custom made furniture on casters provides additional flexibility to easily transform spaces from one use to another.