The entry has a generous wood ramp to allow the owners' parents to visit with no encumbrance from steps or tripping hazards. The orange front door has a long sidelight of glass to allow the owners to see who is at the front door. The wood accent is on the outside of the home office or study.

The Yin-Yang House is a net-zero energy single-family home in a quiet Venice, CA neighborhood. The design objective was to create a space for a large and growing family with several children, which would create a calm, relaxed and organized environment that emphasizes public family space. The home also serves as a place to entertain, and a welcoming space for teenagers as they seek social space with friends. The home is organized around a series of courtyards and other outdoor spaces that integrate with the interior of the house. Facing the street the house appears to be solid. However, behind the steel entry door is a courtyard, which reveals the indoor-outdoor nature of the house behind the solid exterior. From the entry courtyard, the entire space to the rear garden wall can be seen; the first clue of the home’s spatial connection between inside and out. These spaces are designed for entertainment, and the 40 foot sliding glass door to the living room enhances the harmonic relationship of the main room, allowing the owners to host many guests without the feeling of being overburdened. The tensions of the house’s exterior are subtly underscored by a 12-inch steel band that hews close to, but sometimes rises above or falls below the floor line of the second floor – a continuous loop moving inside and out like a pen that is never lifted from the page, but reinforces the intent to spatially weave together the indoors with the outside as a single space. Scale manipulation also plays a formal role in the design of the structure. From the rear, the house appears to be a single-story volume. The large master bedroom window and the outdoor steps are scaled to support this illusion. It is only when the steps are animated with people that one realizes the true scale of the house is two stories. The kitchen is the heart of the house, with an open working area that allows the owner, an accomplished chef, to converse with friends while cooking. Bedrooms are intentionally designed to be very small and simple; allowing for larger public spaces, emphasizing the family over individual domains. The breakfast room looks across an outdoor courtyard to the guest room/kids playroom, establishing a visual connection while defining the separation of uses. The children can play outdoors while under adult supervision from the dining area or the office, or do homework in the office while adults occupy the adjacent outdoor or indoor space. Many of the materials used, including the bamboo interior, composite stone and tile countertops and bathroom finishes are recycled, and reinforce the environmental DNA of the house, which also has a green roof. Blown-in cellulose insulation, radiant heating and a host of other sustainable features aids in the performance of the building’s heating and cooling. The active systems in the home include a 12 KW solar photovoltaic panel system, the largest such residential system available on the market. The solar panels also provide shade from the sun, preventing the house from becoming overheated. The owners have been in the home for over nine months and have yet to receive a power bill.

The south deck has a very high ceiling created by cantilevering the roof structure out. The owners wanted "a place to sit outside in the rain". Photo by Keith Isaacs.

Fassade mit grauen Platten und Raureif auf der Fassade an einem kalten Wintermorgen
ミュンヘンにある高級な小さなモダンスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (コンクリート繊維板サイディング、緑化屋根、縦張り) の写真

The wrap around deck terraces down to grade.
ローリーにある高級な中くらいなミッドセンチュリースタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (コンクリート繊維板サイディング、緑化屋根) の写真

The southern exterior has a screen porch in the middle which cantilevers out toward the site. The porch connects on the left to a wrap around deck.
ローリーにある高級な中くらいなミッドセンチュリースタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (コンクリート繊維板サイディング、緑化屋根) の写真

Positioned on the west, this porch, deck, and plunge pool apture the best of the afternoon light. A generous roof overhang provides shade to the master bedroom above.

The low slung roof at the entry makes the spaces within that much more open and expansive.
シカゴにある高級な中くらいなラスティックスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (コンクリート繊維板サイディング、緑化屋根) の写真

When approached from downslope the arrangement of the house is clearly understood with the master suite atop, screened porch and sundeck below, and the living room in the foreground.

The south facing view of the Privacy House has a 13' high window wall. Primary colors inspired by flags were used to organize the exterior spaces. To the right of the deck is a floating cypress screen which affords privacy for the owners when viewed from the street. Photo by Keith Isaacs.

To the left of the entry you get a glimpse of the cantilevered screen porch which allows panoramic views of the beech wood forest.
ローリーにある高級な中くらいなミッドセンチュリースタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (コンクリート繊維板サイディング、緑化屋根) の写真

The entry has a generous wood ramp to allow the owners' parents to visit with no encumbrance from steps or tripping hazards. The orange front door has a long sidelight of glass to allow the owners to see who is at the front door. The wood accent is on the outside of the home office or study.

The western decks face a magnificent view. We designed sliding wood screens that can be easily closed to block the intense summer heat when needed.
ローリーにある高級な中くらいなミッドセンチュリースタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (コンクリート繊維板サイディング、緑化屋根) の写真

A detail of the cypress screen on the street side elevation. This gives the house the privacy the owners craved. Photo by Keith Isaacs.
ローリーにある高級な小さなミッドセンチュリースタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (コンクリート繊維板サイディング、緑化屋根) の写真

The cedar ceiling of the living rom extends outside, blurring the division of interior and exterior. The large glass panes reflect the forest beyond,
シカゴにある高級な中くらいなラスティックスタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (コンクリート繊維板サイディング、緑化屋根) の写真

We designed sliding wood screens that can be easily closed to block the intense summer heat when needed.
ローリーにある高級な中くらいなミッドセンチュリースタイルのおしゃれな家の外観 (コンクリート繊維板サイディング、緑化屋根) の写真

A twilight view of the cypress screening detail on the east side of the house facing the street gives the owners the privacy they wanted. Photo by Keith Isaacs.

The Mason Grabell house is tucked into a Beech Forest near Chapel Hill, NC. The heart of the house is the walnut cabinetry kitchen with its butler pantry and connection to dining, indoor and out. The Screen porch is the heart of the extra, floating out into the site. Keith Isaacs is the photographer for this pic.

The entry has a generous wood ramp to allow the owners' parents to visit with no encumbrance from steps or tripping hazards. The orange front door has a long sidelight of glass to allow the owners to see who is at the front door. The wood accent is on the outside of the home office or study.