Art House in Palo Alto, California

This residential project involved the construction of three distinct structures, creating additional interior space and forming a private courtyard for an existing house that remains in place. The largest new structure, the Art House, is designed to house a burgeoning art collection, and accommodate occasional guests.

When the lot adjacent to their house came on the market a few years ago, the owners saw an opportunity to expand beyond the small house where they had lived for twenty years, raising their four children. The planning challenge was how to resolve the geometry of the trapezoidal site, while complying with the scale of the neighborhood, and providing enough open space to satisfy the requirements of the program. Locating the art storage and studio structures against the rear setback, while keeping them low anddiscreet relative to the forward position of the taller new and original houses, creates a false perspective, increasing the perceived depth of the property. In the Art House’s living room, 11’ tall glass doors disappear into pockets and are set flush, blurring the distinction between inside and outside while adding a grand scale.

A small pool and lawn provide a focal point to the open space creating a ‘village green’ where the family gathers on weekends. The house plan is inverted in the sense that bedrooms face the street, while the living room and kitchen are in back, connecting entertaining spaces to the courtyard.