Location: Venice, California
Size: 1,975 sf two story residence + 715 sf two story garage/studio
Type: Ground-up new construction- single-family residence and garage/studio

Venice is a neighborhood known both for iconic beach bungalows and architectural experimentation. By maintaining the integrity and proportion of the traditional Venice Beach bungalow & adding a bar slid through it, the B+B house makes an argument for the resilience of archetypes- playing out juxtaposition in a small house that speaks to both modernist volumes and ways of life. The house feels instantly comfortable, welcoming and not too precious to use.

The site while sandwiched closely between neighboring houses has an incredible sense of urban openness to the sky with views punctuated by palm trees. The view up and out from the inner most part of the site is the true center of the home so we created a dynamic connection between the main house & rear studio through the interior yard between. At the upstairs studio at the rear, we peeled the roof back from ⅓ of the volume, while the opposite primary bedroom acts as a treehouse overlook creating a distinctly different experience on either side of the central yard.

Proportion and scale were carefully considered from larger formal intersections down to the varying details and directionality of material texture, pattern and rhythms. The flexible loft in the double height front room bridges the boundaries between gathering and retreat. Interior windows were punched through upstairs volumes so both cross breezes and conversations continue and flow from upstairs down to the main living areas that spill into the yard. Solar hot water/radiant flooring & solar skylights are used throughout.

AIA LA Residential Architecture Merit Award: Single-Family Residential - Small, 2022

The Plan Awards, Finalist, House, 2023

Architecture + Interior Design: Design, Bitches

Landscape Design: Terremoto

Structural Engineer: Parker Resnick Structural Engineering

Civil Engineer: CM Peck Inc

General Contractor: Oliver Garrett Construction Inc.

Photography: Yoshihiro Makino

D,B Team: Catherine Johnson, Rebecca Rudolph, Gitta Bartelt