A short stroll from the ocean in Venice, California, a formerly cramped cottage and garage are transformed into an energy-efficient family compound. 
By Michael Webb
Photography by Benny Chan/Fotoworks

In Los Angeles, much of the best architecture is private, concealed behind high-walled gardens or enigmatic facades. Even those houses in plain view during construction may soon disappear within a grove of fast-growing vegetation. Venice, an up-and-coming neighbourhood of beach bungalows and humble dwellings a short stroll from the Pacific Ocean, offers greater exposure. Aficionados can enjoy close-up views of the area’s latest building work while strolling the square-mile district’s narrow streets, walkways and canals.

Frugality and invention are two prevailing local themes in the area, a former summer escape, via streetcar, for the L.A. working class. Both qualities have been showcased in a house upgraded by Santa Monica’s Daly Genik Architects for a screenwriter and a news producer. The couple wanted space to raise their young family, plus a studio apartment where their New York relatives could come and stay. It was a priority to optimize the setting’s abundant natural light and the cross-ventilation from ocean breezes to conserve energy and dispense with air conditioning. Relatively few homes in Venice have an absolute need for this seeming staple of modern living in warm climates, and this house makes the most of passive cooling.

The point of departure for the lot was a stucco cottage tucked behind a detached garage that fronted the street. Principal architect Kevin Daly and his associates extended the main house, adding 55 square metres of living space to the existing 158-square-metre structure. The garage, which had an upstairs apartment added twenty years ago, was transformed into a proper guest house, with the addition of a deck. The architects visually tied together the two buildings, concealing the upper storeys behind folded screens of perforated Galvalume.

“This project was a sleight-of-hand trick,” observes Daly. “We had to make the house and the guest apartment feel larger and more private without making the courtyard seem smaller.” It was a reversal of the usual pattern for the garage to front the street, but a factor in keeping with the area. “Creating more complex exterior spaces within the interior of the block is something you often see on the narrow lots of Venice.”

Top: The main house, viewed from the guest house and the courtyard. In a reversal of the usual pattern, it’s located at the rear of the lot.

Below left: An outlying garage became an elegant guest house for visiting in-laws.

Below right: The main building’s original double-height living room has been sequestered for dining, offering easy views of the shared courtyard.