Hillside House for Healthy Living
HILLSIDE HOUSE FOR HEALTHY LIVING
Abramson Architects
Text description provided by architect.
An entrepreneurial family with a passion for healthy living requested a large home on their dramatically sloping 2-acre site. They wanted an informal layout woven into the topography.
They also wished to enjoy as much of the site as possible, requiring the inclusion of steps and landscape pathways that lead to more distant parts of the steep site.
Situated on a promontory jutting into the canyon below the hillside retreat boasts multiple vistas of the surrounding canyon and the Pacific Ocean beyond. However, local restrictions allowed for a single story above street level.
Responding to these conditions, much of the home’s massing is located on a lower level that daylights onto the downslope side of the house. This modest massing arrangement allows for neighboring properties to see over the roof of the home.
In three distinct locations, landscaped topography “fingers” heighten one’s awareness of the panoramic scenery. Bridges span over these fingers, extending the natural graded areas into the heart of the home.
The design solution offers new perspectives for experiencing the owner’s prized views while providing a glimpse of the topography as it stood before the house was set upon it.
