Blair Residence by Bruce Bolander Architect
Architect Bruce Bolander has shared with us a house he has designed in Malibu, California.
Visit Bruce Bolander’s website – here.
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Architect Bruce Bolander has shared with us a house he has designed in Malibu, California.
Visit Bruce Bolander’s website – here.
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Chris on 22 Dec 2009 at 8:15 am #
Decent home, amazing location/view
Oliver on 22 Dec 2009 at 10:10 am #
good house with a fantastic view but I don’t like the rough co concrete walls and the bathroom is pretty ugly … I think
cb on 22 Dec 2009 at 11:17 am #
With all of the concrete and steel I don’t understand why they wouldn’t use some kind of fire retardant material on the cieling. Clearly they are in a fire area and the other materials were chosen for fire retardant qualities. And you’d think with the money they spent, they would not have to use grand ma’s old couch in the living room.
Patrick on 22 Dec 2009 at 12:05 pm #
Love what appears to be the guest room/office.
Los CA on 22 Dec 2009 at 3:02 pm #
I agree with the other 2 posts… great view/location, however, for Malibu, this house isn’t really impressive at all. I’d expect this to be what the owners bought, and have a before & after on this one. But that’s just my opinion. If this is what the owners want/like, then that’s their call. But as a designer/professional, I am not impressed at all (location being the exception).
hq on 22 Dec 2009 at 5:38 pm #
What you think about the stairs? I think it should use the view to be more pleasure to climb
jhammond on 22 Dec 2009 at 8:33 pm #
The comments here make me laugh — It’s called industrial modern for a reason. The material selections (wood, glass, steel and concrete, lots of it) are done not so much as a “fire barrier”, but rather for their raw aesthetic qualities which are generally contrasted with refined elements like cabinetry, tiles or furnishings. The view is great and the concrete has an awesome woodgrain texture that looks like it was done with a form liner in order to capture that look.
andy on 22 Dec 2009 at 8:57 pm #
beatiful views,
i sort of get the 70’s colouring, but i’ll never like a green bathroom!
F-J on 23 Dec 2009 at 12:43 am #
Hit and miss.
All the “ingredients” on their own are fantastic.
But this overall expression of an abode ( with all of it being mixed together) is a menu gone wrong.
It just doesn’t taste right.
DJ on 23 Dec 2009 at 2:50 pm #
The real gem here is obviously the setting and the view. The house is a simple execution to maximize the major asset, the view. I think it is simple and tasteful. Sometimes restraint is the better part of valor.
mathieu on 23 Dec 2009 at 4:28 pm #
i agree totally with cb statement….lol at grandma couch
Rosie on 23 Dec 2009 at 10:21 pm #
The views are my favourite part of it. I think the actual house is a bit too… rough maybe. And what is that bed just doing there in the middle of nowhere? It’s not even a bedroom.
adj on 24 Dec 2009 at 8:11 am #
Perfect.
Terry Glenn Phipps on 24 Dec 2009 at 11:25 am #
Demographics never lie.
This is an exceptional project in the spirit of Craig Ellwood’s best case-study houses. Kudos for demonstrating the relevance and appropriateness of good architecture will always trump the shiny, flashy, McModernist aesthetic.
Bruce Bolander on 24 Dec 2009 at 4:42 pm #
Maybe I can explain my thoughts for the house by responding to a few of the comments.
The house is in a high fire area and is constructed of all non-combustible structural materials, and mostly non-combustible finish materials also.
The wood on the ceiling is backed with a layer of gypsum sheathing over steel framing and thus exceeds the code in terms of combustibility. For me it adds warmth and a handmade quality to the house.
Most of the other houses in the area, however expensively finished they might be, are wood frames covered with a layer of stucco, and far more combustible than this one.
The green tiles are from Heath Ceramics and respond to the green of the chaparral and the blue of the sky and water. Color is obviously a quite personal choice.
The grandma couch was designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Depending on your age it could easily have been your grandmas.
The bed is anchored somewhat by the builtins behind it and a small headboard, but does float in the room. As the house has complete privacy from the exterior, and is occupied by just a couple, the idea was to place the bed amidst the mountains. This might indeed be uncomfortable for some, but the current users love it.
The intent of the house was to not interfere with the views any more than was necessary. Its materials are in fact a bit rough and handmade, intentionally so. Again this might be off-putting to some and quite appropriate to others.
bliss on 25 Dec 2009 at 2:49 pm #
Thanks for the comments, TGP & BB!
bliss on 25 Dec 2009 at 2:51 pm #
Btw, I love this house!
Léonard Lièvre on 27 Dec 2009 at 5:37 am #
Great house. Is it on the road to Topanga Canyon?
Bruce on 28 Dec 2009 at 8:55 am #
Nicely detailed, oriented and sized. Thank you to the architect, Bruce Bolander, for supplying some insight into decisions and responding to comments exposing the lack of understanding that this house was designed for a client as well as a particular site.
The mid-century modern furnishings selected do expose why some designs become classics and others are just period pieces. Harry Bertoia’s side chairs for example have become timeless classics while the Dunbar sofas do just look like something your grandmother might have owned (if she were hip and trendy in the 50’s).
Plans would have been nice, but I can understand their not always being provided. I do have a couple of questions though. How is the lower level used? Is that the same tile used on the exterior of the bathroom as the interior?
Chris on 01 Jan 2010 at 4:28 pm #
I like the fact the stairs are enclosed as opposed to open. It gives you a “wow” quality when you come up through the last step and become engulfed in the landscape. This is one amazing location for a house, and I love the industrial modern design. Inexpensive and warm when combined with the right amount of wood.
dcbcn on 02 Jan 2010 at 11:03 am #
To Bruce Bolander:
Thank you for your comments and insight into this project. Can you explain something that always perplexes me: why do good American architects use such low-grade architectural lighting fixtures in otherwise well-designed, high-end, big-budget projects?
Thank you for your reply.
bruce bolander on 05 Jan 2010 at 7:41 pm #
To follow up on more comments-
I would be happy to provide a simple plan.
Grandma’s couch still interests me. I actually find this particular Wormley design quite timeless. I concede that the sofas in the shots could use a bit of work.
The underfloor area of the house is just structure at the moment but will likely include some living space in the future.
The tile is the same inside and out.
It might be expected that I would agree with the comment about the stairs. The closed entry stair really pushes the focus to the immediate landscape and not the long views that the house enjoys.
I can’t speak for other architects but can tell you why I often use inexpensive light fixtures. For this house in particular the ceiling plane was a major element by itself so I felt that anything hanging down from the ceiling would be a mistake. I guess I’m just not sold on high end cans, so we used regular cans and made custom steel trims so that the wood could finish into something. I know that this looks like a high end project and in many ways it is, but many clients/projects don’t have the money left at the end of a project to spend 25-75K on lighting for their house. I think that the same thing happens with furniture, especially on ‘first houses’ where people tend to put everything they have into the house.
Hence Grandma’s couch.
I do appreciate the dialogue. Thank you all.
Fred on 01 Feb 2010 at 6:07 pm #
Thank you for the restraint, and not fighting the site to make a statement. This is the residence on this website that in any way appealed to me. Not that I am denigrating the other designs, they just do not appeal to me personally.
Dano on 25 Feb 2010 at 11:58 pm #
for a modern/minimalist design i think it all comes together quite well.
Easter on 28 Feb 2010 at 9:09 am #
The early comments here are misguided and a bit baffling. The real gem here is not necessarily the view or even the wonderful couch. This is one of the most appealing homes in Malibu. I’ve had the pleasure of driving by the location numerous times and am always grateful that at least this one site has not been forever disfigured by a faux Tuscan “villa” of stucco and drywall.