Scenic View

Playing on combinations of solid volumes complemented by transparent voids, the Scenic View home uses a very simple material palette of brick, wood, and steel to stand apart from the landscape without drawing attention to itself. The black brick sets the house into the landscape as an element connected to the earth, allowing it to retreat as an object amidst its more ostentatious neighbors. The black brick is a rich color that contains glimmers of copper brown and red animated by the sun giving it a three-dimensional texture. Inside, the house is bright by contrast and no window treatments in common spaces allow views to the outside at all times as a way to connect both to nature and to the neighborhood. The uncomplicated materials affirm the simple volumes and clearly delineate a clear contrast between the solid mass and the uninterrupted sight lines from the street through the house to landscape and views beyond.

The owners use every space of the interiors throughout every day, following the sun as they move from morning coffee and breakfast in the front courtyard below the street level side to working from home from either common areas or an upstairs bedroom, to ending the day watching the sunset from the balcony. The main living space has no screens and is focused on maintaining a relaxing atmosphere for listening to music or nature through the large sliding doors that allow the interior to spill onto the back deck. Above upstairs balcony off the designated media space affords unobstructed views of the sky and approaching storms while shading the deck below.