The House That Women Built

Pacific Palisades, CA
3200 SF

We call it "The House That Women Built".

The property belonged to the client’s great aunt who then bequeathed it to the client’s grandmother, who bequeathed it her daughter, who then bequeathed it to her daughter, our client.

She and her wife then hired Scrafano Architects, female owned and operated, to design their new modern influenced home which was then built by a female general contractor, Jennifer Koster of Scala Construction with gardens designed by a female landscape architect, Lisa Gimmy.

Client goals for the new home were: privacy, connection to the outdoor spaces and creating a quiet zen-like interior environment. Space requirements include: private suite for aging parents, home office, two bedroom suites, master bedroom suite with walk in closet, interior and exterior connected living spaces for entertaining

The narrow, long site along with tight zoning restrictions guided our design solution of a series of four intersecting volumes. Two darker gray clad volumes attach to the main white stucco volume that grounds the house on the site.

The gray volume that fronts the street connects back to the main house via a black glass volume that floats above the main entry. A private garden for the parent’s suite separates the front gray volume from the main house.

The design solution locates the main living volumes to the rear of the site for privacy and an open floor plan that connects directly to exterior garden spaces.

The landscape design was integral to the project; views to the outside even at the narrow side yards are filled with walls of greenery to open up the house creating the illusion of expanding space.