laguna house
Project Type: Single Family Home Exterior Renovation
Size: 1,800 sf
Services: Full Architectural Services
Structural Engineer: Petra Structural
General Contractor: Way of Life Construction
Photography: Peter Lyons Photo
This project refreshes the exterior street elevation of a single family home in Laguna Beach, CA. Built in the 1960s, the home had been renovated several times and lost a sense of its original openness and minimal styling.
This refresh updates the entire street face of the home with more honest materials, a much more open entry that guides and directs visitors, and modern drought tolerant landscaping. The design seeks to realign the home with its original modernist Southern California values.
Existing Elevation
New Elevation
The home sits on a steep hill that drops off at the rear to reveal expansive views of a canyon and the Pacific Ocean. The existing entrance was enclosed with an archway and low roof line that gave no clue of the expansive views beyond.
The redesign lengthens this visual journey to the front of the home. The entry is opened up with a raised roof, steel portal frame, concrete paver pathway, and ivy screen. With these elements, the entrance becomes a visual extension of the natural views that are eventually revealed at the rear of the home.
Design interventions were chosen carefully to achieve maximum effect with minimal modification to the existing structure.
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​Custom metal window shelves appear to float from the building face.
Landscape lighting and pavers guide a new entry pathway. Drought tolerant landscaping is intermixed throughout the front of the home.