Los Angeles-based architectural firm Rios Clementi Hale Studios has designed the Smith-Clementi Residence. Completed in 2012, this 2,200 square foot contemporary home is located in Venice, California, USA.
The house slowly reveals itself along a walk street in Venice, CA, with the design juxtapositions foreshadowed by corresponding fences—a vine-covered traditional wrought-iron fence leads into an raw- wood rustic picket fence. A new large sliding-glass door opens the lower level out to the generous plaza formed from linear concrete slabs with grass and pebbles interspersed. No-mow grass surrounds the front elevated entry porch, which begins the consistent black concrete-tile flooring that travels from outside through the first-floor living, dining, and kitchen areas, then back outside to the al fresco dining platform.
Muted colors on the exterior are derived from the landscape and majestic magnolia tree on the property, while natural-wood trim further connects the structure to the landscape. Accessible openings—doors and operable windows—are trimmed in olive paint. The back volume addition encompasses garage and storage with glass-enclosed master suite above. Structural, vertical raw-wood framing is expressively placed around the glass volume. In additional to functionally acting as sunscreens, the beams connote a tree house and correspond to the picket fence in both materiality and attitude. Both front and back parts of the house are distinct on the ground floor—connected by the open-air dining terrace—while the upper- level, cement-board cladded “bridge” connection is more seamless from the interior, acting as a large, common space shared by the family. Upstairs, two bedrooms and a shared bath for the owners’ nine- and 16-year-old daughters are separated from the master suite by the “bridge”. Central to the bridge is the open family room—a hub of activity combining TV viewing, computer, and various other functions that mirror the family’s lifestyle. The flooring changes from wood to cork tiles beyond an olive-colored floor-to-ceiling door that opens to the master suite, which includes seating area, terrace, bath, and walk-in closets.
