Surrounded by stately residences in a variety of historical styles, this 5,300 square-foot single-family residence responds with a deceptively simple composition of volumes, voids, and screens. The balanced muscularity of the street facade presents a contemporary response to the formality and classicism of the adjacent structures. The L-shaped ground floor includes a kitchen/family room wing that extends into the backyard garden. Generously-sized terraces and large banks of sliding glass doors encourage year-round indoor-outdoor living.

The emphasis on simplicity continues inside the structure, which employs a free plan animated by a floating staircase located between the foyer and living room. Abundant use of natural light activates the interior spaces. A reduced palette of light-colored materials, including exterior plaster walls, terrazzo floors, painted drywall, and quartz countertops, emphasizes the house’s natural light and free flowing spaces, as well as its simple, unfettered character. These materials are accented with wood siding, screens, and floors.

Designed for an entrepreneur seeking refuge from his unpredictable, nomadic life, this residence demonstrates that using the full range of sustainability features is not only good for the environment, but also consistent with creating progressive, spatially-rich environments.

The structure’s siting and openness allow sunlight and breezes to naturally warm and cool the house, and encourages the type of indoor-outdoor living made possible by Southern California’s temperate environment. The house has no mechanical air-conditioning system. The koi pond cools the air before it enters the house. The concrete floors absorb heat during the day and release it at night. A generous use of skylights and clerestories reduces the need for artificial lighting.

The house employs the following active green technologies: Santa Monica’s first gray water system, which filters much of the house’s waste water for garden use; a 4-kilowatt rooftop photovoltaic system supplying 85% of the house’s power; and a highly efficient in-floor radiant heating system. Recycled or sustainably-produced materials include: recycled cotton insulation; sustainably-harvested wood stairs and floors; formaldehyde-free MDF cabinets; low VOC paint; and quartz countertops. The house has been the subject of several university lectures and is on the cover of Santa Monica’s influential “Residential Green Building Guide.”

The Holleb Residence is a 4,000 square foot home for a family of four in the Ocean Park neighborhood of Santa Monica. Its main organizing feature is a sculptural stair and second floor “cut-out” terrace that splits the house into front and back zones. On the ground floor, the structure’s main entry separates the garage and guest room from the kitchen, dining, and living areas, which flow out into the back yard. On the second floor, the terrace and atrium provide privacy between the parents’ suite and their children’s bedroom and play areas, which overlook the play spaces in the rear.

The residence differs from the firm’s other houses in its inclusion of many smaller spaces and rooms, all intended for specific uses by its inhabitants, but all held together by the circulation system and the centrally-located double-height living room.