The Hidden House by Standard
Standard, a Los Angeles based architectural firm, designed the Hidden House, located in the Mount Washington/Glassell Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.
Full description after the photos….
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The Hidden House by Standard
Originally commissioned to design a new home for a young family who had purchased the site, Standard found a way to maintain as much of the existing structure as possible, both minimizing code complications and the environmental footprint of the project. “Hidden House is the perfect example of how incorporating an existing structure can actually be the key to a successful new design,” explains Jeffrey Allsbrook, Standard Principal and Co-Founder.
Hidden House is located on a serene 7-acre site (in Glassell Park where the paved road ends at an old hand written sign marking the entrance to “Hidden Valley.”) The property, which can only be accessed via a half-mile unpaved road, offers expansive views of the city but seems a world away from Los Angeles at the same time. Anticipating city restrictions associated with building on a site far removed from the street, Standard opted to keep the structure of the existing two-bedroom house substantially intact. At the same time the architects designed an entirely new home around the original space.
Today, the original two-bedroom cottage is incorporated into the house as the living and dining room. Standard added a new kitchen, family room, office, garage, master bedroom suite and kids bedroom, essentially doubling the volume of the house from 1580 sf to 3500 sf. The new house is arranged around two main courtyards. The main living spaces open up onto the interior courtyard, while the exterior courtyard looks out over the city in the distance. The self-contained cubes are arranged around the original footprint in such a way that they make order of the disorder. At a later date, the family may add on additional bedrooms per their original plan.
Hidden House also features several sustainable materials and features, ranging from the redwood cladding, to reclaimed endgrain block wood, to the cork flooring in the office, and highly efficient appliances/equipment. The design allows for excellent cross ventilation and day lighting, reducing the need to run forced-air conditioning or heat or energy-consuming electrical lighting. The house is insulated with sustainable cotton and built to be solar-ready. The garden is planted with native landscape and vegetables.
“We’re thrilled with the way the house evolved,” adds Standard Principal and Co-Founder Silvia Kuhle. “Hidden House offers the ultimate country living experience in the middle of an urban environment.”
Visit the Standard Architecture/Design website – here.
Photos: ©Benny Chan/Fotoworks
Omar Ibar on 20 Mar 2010 at 12:19 pm #
precious house! great design ;D
ONYX on 20 Mar 2010 at 4:56 pm #
Very well done. A good amount of thought went into this. I like seeing sustainable design ['green' is getting annoying] that is done sensibly like this, rather than slapping ‘green’ features onto a projekt to attain the status. Well done. If you check the architect’s website- it also is well done.
marshen on 20 Mar 2010 at 9:45 pm #
I live in the Glassell Park neighborhood very near this house, and it is the one place I have lived in the LA area where you don’t need heat or air conditioning. It is a great place to live and the views are amazing.
This house is California indoor-outdoor living at its best. I really like the plywood and pine beam ceiling. Looks like they made the most they could out of the steep site.
scott on 21 Mar 2010 at 5:15 am #
I love the house, but am even more in love with some of the designs for retail stores this architecture firm has done, in particular Jenni Kayne store and the James Perse stores in L.A. What I like best about all of this work is that it is designed for and about Southern California, and therefore is less about architectural fashion, and more about climate, culture, and landscape.
Paul Johnston on 21 Mar 2010 at 9:26 am #
The timber joists are a total score – completely elevates this project and infuses the warmth that makes this click. Bravo!
Steve on 24 Mar 2010 at 8:13 am #
very nice, but it looks like somebody neglected the landscaping and weeds surrounding the property!
jianchung on 31 Mar 2010 at 6:36 am #
I really love the openness of the design. I always had a doubt for large single storey houses and how to play with the spaces and landscaping but I think this design really hit the spot!