Our decision to build a house designed by someone other than me raised quite a few eyebrows since I happen to be an architect, president/owner of an architecture firm. I jokingly excused it as not being cost effective, which was closer to the truth than it sounded since our field is design of laboratories and research facilities.
We chose Howard Oxley, a San Diego architect, whose contemporary, clean and precise style of design we admired. Oxley was experienced and his work, though always contemporary, was as varied as his clients. An architect designing for an architect is not an easy task... leading to some heated "professional" discussions, eventually resolved to everyone's satisfaction.
The house is organized on a 30' grid, both horizontally and vertically resulting in elevations which reflect an organization beyond normal. It also proved continual amusement as each subcontractor tried to ignore the grid. We wanted the house to be as open as possible, both visually and functionally, to bring the California sun and vegetation into the house, taking advantage of the distinct city views as well the landscape inside the walls of the property.
The 5000 square foot lot is very urban, raised by six feet with a pre-existing tall wall on the front property line, allowing internal ground level privacy while preserving the openness of the upper level. The house was built in an area of much older homes of which quite a few have historical designation. The thought of a very contemporary house in their midst was upsetting to some, pleasing to others. Eventually and because of the property's timeless clean lines, opinions seem to have shifted in its favor.
With a very high proportion of glass to wall ratio, the city requested all sorts of energy preserving measures, which we satisfied. In realty, however, the house turned out to be very energy efficient; the evening summer breeze sweeps away the heat from the day's sunlight pouring into the house through the open sliding window walls, calling for very infrequent use of air conditioning. In the winter the sunlight heats the house except for a few minutes in the morning.
The special qualities of the house, with it's two story living room, a master bedroom that is openable onto the upper part of the living room by two sets of disappearing pocket doors, continue to delight us on a daily basis. The house's minimalist decor is enhanced by the full height doors enclosing closets and the utility areas, maintaining visual simplicity. The four car underground level garage provides space for cars, workbench, and dog washing area, complete with hot and cold running water, a fact that some friends find amusing while the dog remains unimpressed. When the house was finally finished and we were standing in our living room looking down a street leading to the house, our son, looking admiringly at George, our Doberman Pinscher, asked, "can you imagine coming up that street and seeing this beautiful...... dog?"
Regards,
Naomi & Malcolm Barksdale