2129 Linden Ave. | Venice | 90291
Architecture by: Deborah Richmond Architects
Photography by: Benny Chan and Annika Lundvall
Built: 2006, 2 Bedroom, 2.5 Bathrooms, 1500 Square Feet
Located just off Venice’s peaceful walk-streets, this home has been featured in the New York Times, Icon, Wallpaper, and Sunset. A great room on the ground floor opens onto outdoor decks and a native CA landscape. Private and quiet rooms above open onto private outdoor decks with views of Los Angeles’s Westside, including the Getty Museum, Santa Monica Mountains and Marina del Rey.
Designed by architects as a demonstration project and personal home, the main house is in fact the second unit built on a property zoned for two dwellings which originally only had only one. As housing prices soar in Los Angeles County due to low “inventory” and an estimated 6 million new inhabitants in the next 10 years, urban neighborhoods are becoming increasingly dense by Los Angeles standards. By fulfilling the parcel’s native R-2 zoning, the upper apartment and lower level office of the original home serve as income generators for the property owner or simply another legal dwelling unit for friends or family. By going up instead of out, this 1,500 SF house has views of the city and mountains from the top floor bedroom and deck. The only conventional window is located in this bedroom across from the deck, in order to create natural ventilation.
As an exercise,the house is “zoned” by level and creates a seamless flow from front to back yards through the ground level living space. The house is clad with corrugated, galvanized metal. By rotating the pattern, the tectonic relationships between the “floating” element and the wrapped volume that perches on top are expressed. Other materials include cellular plastic glazing, sanded flake board and aluminum doors and windows.
