This Hermosa Beach house is a celebration of minimalist architecture simplicity and its seaside location. Titled Strandhouse and designed by Los Angeles architecture studio XTEN, the home was conceived by practice founder Monika Haefelfinger and partner Scott Utterstrom, as a model for beachside living for its coastal Southern California region.
Strandhouse by XTEN: a perfect Hermosa Beach house
Located on an enviable spot on Hermosa Beach, right by the white sand and near its central pier, Strandhouse was orientated to make the most of its location. Large openings, clean geometries and pared-down decor work together to craft a house that feels expansive, opening up towards the vistas, and at the same time cocooning – the perfect viewpoint to relax and enjoy the live canvas of the ocean.
'As the white interiors showcase the client’s art collection, the west-facing glass façade acts as a blank canvas, reflecting various shades of color throughout the day,' says Haefelfinger.
The structure is organised in three distinct floors. The ground level can open up towards the beach, as an 'extension of it', the architects explain. The second one, slightly elevated from the ground, becomes the perfect viewing platform, containing all the primary living spaces. The top hosts the private areas, and everything is connected via a white, sculptural central stair core that also acts as a lightwell, allowing sunlight to reach the rear of the house. Four bedrooms and a variety of terraces and balconies dot the layout, adding open-air options throughout.
The minimalist aesthetic helps the house appear light on the ground, but the building features some sustainable architecture credentials too. These include passively designed (for cross-ventilation) dual-glazed windows with low-e coating, a thermal chimney over and including the three-level stair, a reflective ‘cool’ roof, stormwater retention and filtration, drought tolerant planting, and on-site EV charging.
-
How Abidjan's Young Designers Workshop is helping shape a new generation of Côte d'Ivoire creativesIn the first in our Design Cities series, we look at how Abidjan's next generation of creatives is being nurtured by an enlightened local designer
-
A tale of two Audis: the A5 saloon goes up against the A6 Avant e-tronIs the sun setting on Audi’s ICE era, or does the company’s e-tron technology still need to improve?
-
Inside Christian de Portzamparc’s showstopping House of Dior Beijing: ‘sculptural, structural, alive’Daven Wu travels to Beijing to discover Dior’s dramatic new store, a vast temple to fashion that translates haute couture into architectural form
-
Step inside this resilient, river-facing cabin for a life with ‘less stuff’A tough little cabin designed by architects Wittman Estes, with a big view of the Pacific Northwest's Wenatchee River, is the perfect cosy retreat
-
Remembering Robert A.M. Stern, an architect who discovered possibility in the pastIt's easy to dismiss the late architect as a traditionalist. But Stern was, in fact, a design rebel whose buildings were as distinctly grand and buttoned-up as his chalk-striped suits
-
Own an early John Lautner, perched in LA’s Echo Park hillsThe restored and updated Jules Salkin Residence by John Lautner is a unique piece of Californian design heritage, an early private house by the Frank Lloyd Wright acolyte that points to his future iconic status
-
The Stahl House – an icon of mid-century modernism – is for sale in Los AngelesAfter 65 years in the hands of the same family, the home, also known as Case Study House #22, has been listed for $25 million
-
Houston's Ismaili Centre is the most dazzling new building in America. Here's a look insideLondon-based architect Farshid Moussavi designed a new building open to all – and in the process, has created a gleaming new monument
-
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fountainhead will be opened to the public for the first timeThe home, a defining example of the architect’s vision for American design, has been acquired by the Mississippi Museum of Art, which will open it to the public, giving visitors the chance to experience Frank Lloyd Wright’s genius firsthand
-
Clad in terracotta, these new Williamsburg homes blend loft living and an organic feelThe Williamsburg homes inside 103 Grand Street, designed by Brooklyn-based architects Of Possible, bring together elegant interiors and dramatic outdoor space in a slick, stacked volume
-
This ethereal Miami residence sprouted out of a wild, jungle-like gardenA Miami couple tapped local firm Brillhart Architecture to design them a house that merged Florida vernacular, Paul Rudolph and 'too many plants to count’
