sweet digs: tall-and-skinny 2.0 - a 1960s model with good bones has some work done

8/3/2019 Sweet Digs: Tall-and-Skinny 2.0 - A 1960s model with good bones has some work done

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Sweeta Sleek contemporary exterior iS highlighteD By angular mahogany wooD featureS


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by pamela coranTe-Hansen

Ta l l - a n d - s k i n n y 2 . 0 :

a 1 9 6 0 s m o d e l w i T H g o o d b o n e s H a s s o m e w o r k d o n e

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By

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ave Mcarroll aologizes or the mess as he escorts visitors into his Hermosa

Beach home. n his arlance, mess reers not to iles o newsaers, lates

stacked in the sink, or clutter on the living room oor. Hes talking about tasteul

Halloween decorations being hastil cleared o o uncluttered tables, immaculate

countertos and neat, orderl shelves or a hoto shoot.

pristine is the choice word to describe the sleek, modern interior o the home

Mcarroll shares with his wie and their three daughters, a marriage o minimalist

design and troical inuences aarent in dark wood detailing and oor-to-

ceiling glass walls. remodeled 1960s tall-and-skinn that was built on two lots

unusual at the time it oers more oenness and light than the rototical,

multi-level homes with narrow ootrints that were so oular in the South Ba

during that era.When Mcarroll rst viewed the roert ve ears ago, the house as seen

rom the street was a hulking stucco box bearing a disroortionatel small ba

window that aeared to have been added in the 1980s, and little else in the wa o

exterior decorative elements. nce inside, otential buers who could get ast the

nondescrit exterior were greeted with a cramed kitchen and an oversized living

room dominated b a clunk relace. While man house hunters ma have stoed

there, Mcarroll is an architect and immediatel saw beond the box eriod design

and utilitarian, eatureless laout.

here were two things that stood out about this house when we rst saw it,

Mcarroll sas. he site was wider than the tical 25-b-110-oot lot, and it hadnt

been choed u. n other words, the authentic ceiling beams and tongue and groove

construction that ti the traditional tall-and-skinn had been let unmodied b

revious owners.

Where some might have seen a tear-down, Mcarroll envisioned a Balinese-modern residence that was oen to the outdoors and maintained the simle

geometr o midcentur construction. o turn his vision into realit, Mcarroll called

fSHGS p B By MHGy fS BS


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42 SHByGS.M | 10.14.2011

uon architect Steve Wunderlich o 4 esign Grou,

whom he met when the two worked together at

esign Grou in Marina el e.

he collaboration was eortless, Wunderlich

attests. We worked closel with ave all the wa

through the roject. He was ver involved in the

detailing, materials selection and lighting. poring over

residential hotograhs and images and considering

the racticalities o tearing down versus remodeling,a remodel was conrmed as the better otion and,

interestingl, enabled more square ootage to be

maintained. for a 2900 square-oot home, t lives

large, sas Mcarroll.

Wunderlich and Mcarroll oted to reserve all

ve levels o the residence, mainl because the homes

major comonents were well-situated. he challenge

was in laing with the transitions between the levels,

both inside and outside o the home, Wunderlich

states. here was going to be a amil o ve living in

this house, and it needed to eel more sacious but still

maintain rivate areas or dierent activities.o evoke a sense o connectedness, Wunderlich

began b oening u the main level to the middle level

b creating oating stairs. s a result, a visual link is

established between the main-level kitchen and living

room and the mid-level amil room. can be in the

living room and look through the stairs into the den to

make sure m daughters are doing their homework,

Mcarroll quis.

ontributing to the oenness o the oor lan and

adding high-wattage natural light, sliding glass walls

oen rom the kitchen and dining room onto a slit-

level atio. Here, a at, rectangular water eature made

o board-ormed concrete adds texture to the outdoor

living area and boasts an angular chrome sout that

was laced o-center so that it aligns with the ront

door. ush landscaing creates rivac and makes the

main level eel much larger than the original design.

Sace or a unctional, modern kitchen was created

b tearing out the original massive relace, a oint

on which Mcarroll and Wunderlich initiall disagreed

but to which Mcarroll eventuall acquiesced. heresult, to his satisaction, was a ree-owing sace or

entertaining. When we have eole over, everone

gravitates to the kitchen, Mcarroll notes, gesturing

toward a stone ches island and a dark wood dining

table visible rom the living room. n the ractical side,

the kitchen eatures an oversized hermador oven with

sk-blue burner control knobs.

osing the bulk, dated relace enabled Mcarroll,

who is a artner at alan Gehring Mcarroll rchitectural

ighting in l Segundo, to design a 12-oot re slot along

the south wall o the living room. he re slot uses a

combination o natural and articial light to make astatement iece that is visuall cativating et ractical

and sace-saving. bove the slot, a wooden built-in

cabinet conceals a 52-inch lasma screen television.

We wanted the technolog, but we didnt want to

see it, Mc arroll sas, reerring to the various built-in

cabinets throughout the house that conceal comuters

and lasma screens behind mahogan doors and

anels. n keeing with the homes minimalist aesthetic,

not a wire or monitor is visible anwhere, bucking

todas trend o making a lasma anel or other high-

tech gadgetr the ocal oint o a room.

he homes overall theme o oenness and light

carries through to the uer levels, beginning with

the transitional hallwa o the master suite and two

other bedrooms. lerestor windows at the ver to

o the walls create a sense that the ceiling is oating

over the interior sace and allow natural light to sotl

illuminate the o-white walls.

furnishings and lighting xtures in a neutral

alette are counterbalanced b dark mahogan oors

and built-in cabinets. n the master bath, zebrawoodcabinets aear to oat over the stone oor, making

the room aear more sacious.

short ight o stairs leads to one o Mcarrolls

avorite eatures o the home. n enclosed room was

added to the tomost level, with sliding glass walls that

oen onto a sacious deck with a view o the pacic

cean. he deck is outtted with a sleek wooden

cabinet that houses a grill and a rerigerator. t is here

that Mcarroll sas he has carved out a lace to unwind

and relax.

Wunderlich and Mcarroll make a oint o

mentioning the homes contemorar exterior,highlighted b an angular mahogan wood eature

that climbs u the north wall o the house and hinges

over art o the roo a comlete dearture rom

the lain, shoebox aearance o the homes ormer

exterior. Mcarroll and Wunderlich credit builder Je

Wilsons attention to detail or the homes immaculate

nish and solid construction.

s he stows awa the last o the Halloween

decorations, Mcarroll is asked about the sotless,

tid interior o the home. was slo as a kid, he

admits. But now m rett articular. So is m wie

were both irgos.

Zebrawood cabinets appear to float over the stonefloor

sliding glass walls open from the kitchen and

dining room onto a tranquil split-level patio

the 12-foot fire slot is visually captivating


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functional, modern kitchen where guests gather

clerestory windows create a sense that the ceiling is floating

sweet digs: tall-and-skinny 2.0 - a 1960s model with good bones has some work done

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