Bohemian Surf House home sits on Californian beachfront
Surf House by Feldman Architecture is in touch with its ocean-front setting
![hero image of the Surf House among sand dunes and blue skies](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jVgvqr3DJ4VB9CBpyXqHf7-415-80.jpg)
A private family home commission in an unassiming neighbourhood led to a hidden jewel of a house in the city of Santa Cruz, California. Designed by Feldman Architecture, Surf House is a modern, bohemian home packed with character, sustainability credentials and connections with nature.
Set right at the edge of one of the state’s best surf breaks, the house was conceived as a respectful, low-profile building. Its clean, modernist forms were created to be sensitive both to its immediate natural context and the community beyond, keeping a simple material palette.
‘The home is sited as a wind break,' explain the architects. ‘The rear yard and deck capitalise on ocean views, while the entry and front courtyard, tucked behind two separate structures, sit where the sun shines most in the winter, acting as a warm, light-filled cloister all year round, protected from the coastal winds.'
The architects worked with Evan Shively of Arborica, a local timber specialist that reclaims and repurposes native Californian timber. They used Monterey Cypress for the house, cladding it inside and out for a warm, textured feel. The wood creates an all-natural wrapper for the home. ‘Waste in the milling process was minimised by holistically integrating every level of wood grade into the design,' adds the team. Interiors were done by Commune Design and landscaping by Ground Studio.
Spanning two levels, the house contains a range of more public-feeling, flowing spaces on the ground level. The living areas open towards the ocean through a glazed front, with courtyards, decked terraces, and sliding windows at every turn, ensuring that the landscape remains strongly present everywhere. Upstairs, the architects have placed the bedrooms, tucked away in a more private setting, while large windows frame picture-perfect views of the sea.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
IM Pei's Everson Museum of Art gets a modern makeover
The East Wing of the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY has been given a contemporary refresh by emerging Los Angeles studio MILLIØNS
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Black Modernism’s lesser-known, at-risk architecture gems gain a lifeline
Conserving Black Modernism announces vital funding to save and preserve overlooked and endangered buildings by African American architects and designers
By Bridget Downing Published
-
Step into the Blanton Museum of Art's reimagined public realm by Snøhetta in Austin
Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas is completed and reveals its reimagined public realm and plaza designed by Snøhetta
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This New York Townhouse renovation is a lesson in contemporary minimalism
TenBerke’s carefully considered New York townhouse is the reimagining of a century-old Manhattan structure that reframes vertical living
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Visit The Frost House, a lesser-known modernist architecture marvel in Michigan City
The Frost House is a lesser-known midcentury architecture gem in Michigan City, Indiana; we took the tour as the property goes on the market
By Audrey Henderson Published
-
Broadway designer Scott Pask’s Arizona retreat is a scene-stealing discovery
Scott Pask invites us inside his Arizona retreat, nestled in the foothills overlooking Tucson – a place to reboot, recharge and commune with nature
By Michael Webb Published
-
Upstate New York retreat Ridge House evokes land art
Ridge House in upstate New York, the work of Brooklyn-based studio Worrell Yeung, is at one with the surrounding countryside
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Rafael de Cárdenas’ first ground-up project is a forever home with waterfront views and hidden treasures
Rafael de Cárdenas reveals his latest completed project in the Pacific Northwest, a family home of calming spaces that bleed the outside in, and ten years in the making
By Ellie Stathaki Published