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We bought the house in August 2000, a couple months before we were married. The property was a large lot with a small older house set back from the street in a neighborhood that wasn’t too far from where we were living at the time. The intention was always to renovate but our plans grew and changed as our family and design ambitions grew. We remodeled it before we moved in, and did the first addition after our oldest child was born. It took almost ten years from the start of designing the second story addition to completion. The landscape has been re-worked several times as our lifestyles change with the kids growing up. The plans continue to evolve to this day.
It was important that the house fit with the yard in an organic way and that you have views of the garden from every room along with abundant natural light. We pulled the structural walls away from the edges so we would have glass along the full south & north sides, and angled the dining room walls to allow space for a woodland garden. The project is in a typical 1920s working-class subdivision in northeast Los Angeles, with moderately sized lots and neighboring homes visible on three sides. The landscape design that has been implemented over the years has grown in such a way that the house almost disappears from view. The re-creation of the planted area that was displaced by building the addition on the roof also helps to camouflage the house when viewed by satellite.
The home has been designed with sustainability in mind, including photovoltaic panels for electricity, solar water heating & rainwater collection. The planted roof has a number of benefits including added insulation and native wildlife habitat. Light is modulated from multiple directions to create both cooler dark zones and warmer daylit spaces that preclude the need for artificial lighting during the day. Windows are positioned on all sides of the house to provide exposure to light as it changes throughout the day and support the natural circadian rhythms of the inhabitants. Beefed up insulation and the strategic planting of trees help minimize the need for heating & cooling. The house has won a Residential Design Award from the American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles chapter.
Atwater House has evolved organically along with the family that inhabits it. Originally 500 sq.ft., the architect-owners have been working on the project for 24 years. Starting with remodeling the original cottage, phases include transforming the garage into an office in 2006, adding a living room, bedroom & bath in 2009, and replacing the original structure with a new kitchen/dining area and 2 bedrooms/bathroom for the kids in 2021. The landscape has been re-worked multiple times with the latest iteration including a pool, decks and drought tolerant planting completed in 2023. The house has grown from a small bungalow with no access to the yard into a fluid arrangement of spaces where the inside and outside zones are given equal importance. The upstairs is divided into two rooms for the children with a non-structural wall that can be removed in the future to become a primary bedroom. The office doubles as a gym & guest room for friends & family. The majority of the construction and landscape work was completed by the owners. Custom finishes include oak & walnut wall paneling with brass inlays, hand cast concrete tiles and a steel skylight well in the bedroom. Colors and materials in the house blend with the exterior as it changes throughout the days & seasons – green encaustic cement tile from Mallorca, sky blue glazed brick and cedar in the primary bathroom, deep blue in the primary bedroom. Mirror has been inside & out to further blur the line between inside & out.
We love how connected we feel to the yard, especially the backyard. The old house originally had no connection to the back and we didn’t use the yard very often. Now we can see nature all around us and it feels calming and serene. Every space in the house has direct connection to the outside and it’s an important reminder to think about our connection to the world.
Rebecca Rudolph co-founded award-winning firm Design, Bitches with a bold and irreverent vision to make architecture significant in daily life. Current projects include a pair of family homes, a new dental concept and a desert-inspired café.
Rebecca received her MARCH from SCI-Arc and a Master of Philosophy from the University of Paris VIII, and has taught at the University of Oregon and lectured at Columbia, Yale, and CalArts.
Colin Thompson is a Project Architect and Technical Director at Gensler. His work focuses on the implementation of complex systems and design realization for workplaces. Experience prior to Gensler includes serving as Technical Director at Rios and owning a Design-Build firm.
As a licensed General Contractor, he has built numerous projects spanning from single-family residences to art galleries, workplace interiors and restaurants. Colin is a skilled craftsman and often fabricates custom pieces for his projects. He received his BARCH from SCI-Arc.
