Project: Wrap Recess House
Architects: ANX – Aaron Neubert Architects
Structural Engineers: Craig Phillips Engineering
Location: Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California
Area: 3000 square foot
Project completion date: December 2021
Photo Credits: Brian Thomas Jones
Text by ANX – Aaron Neubert Architects
Sited on a private coastal California hillside street lined with five tightly stacked homes, the Wrap Recess House optimizes a compact footprint, resulting in an experience that maximizes outdoor living, without compromising the privacy of the family. A façade of smooth plaster and cedar siding bundle the interior rooms with strategically placed exterior spaces, producing long sightlines throughout the interior. The informal configuration supports the family’s love of music and art, generating numerous opportunities to display their art collection and engage in impromptu recitals.
By strategically utilizing plaster and cedar siding, telescoping doors and windows, and wrap-around decks and terraces to engage with the coastal landscape, the Wrap Recess house maximizes the outdoor living experience without sacrificing the privacy of its inhabitants.
On the ground floor, an open living space forms the center of the home, bracketed by two courtyards that provide direct access to the outdoors, generous natural light, and views of the surrounding coastal landscapes. Telescoping doors and windows extend the living room, dining room, and kitchen seamlessly out to the entry garden and the interior pool terrace. Additionally, guest quarters opening to the rear landscape, and a music studio connecting to a covered terrace, are positioned adjacent to the primary living areas.
The informal configuration of the home supports the family’s love of music and art, generating numerous opportunities to display their art collection and to engage in impromptu recitals.
Three bedrooms are located on the second floor, separated from one another by the staircase hall, creating a private retreat for every member of the family. The master bedroom, coupled with an en-suite bath, walk-in closet, and a wrap around deck, capture views of the Pacific Ocean in the distance. Two additional bedrooms share a second full bath and an exterior deck overlooking the pool. The connection of the second floor decks with the pool terrace via a circular staircase creates a circuit of exterior living to fully engage the coastal climate.
Rife with opportunities to lounge in the golden sunlight of the Pacific Palisades, the Wrap Recess house manages to promote outdoor living without sacrificing the privacy of its inhabitants.
