Completed in 2024 in La Cañada Flintridge, United States. Images by Pablo Veiga Photography. Tucked in a suburban cul-de-sac in La Cañada Fl
"The relationship between indoors/outdoors is a bridge in both eastern and western design. Both venerate the natural elements, and OWIU sought to marry eastern philosophy around natural elements with a distinctly Californian landscape and palette. Moving water is a constant feature in the home. The sunroom was transformed into a built-in stream enclosed in glass to create a feeling of continuity between the residential and the wild. A koi pond wraps the entryway of the house, punctuated by a minimalist Japanese rock garden and a small walkway of meditative steps. The once-curved pool was remade to be more seamless with the landscape so one can see the tree-lined hills from the luxury of the water. From every window of the house, one can overlook water, trees or hills – the existing nature is as elemental to the design of the home as any other element.
When looking to build their own home, they looked to build their own experiences, memories, and learned design philosophies into the existing bones of the structure. It's in this marriage of legacy and intervention where OWIU finds its design sweet spot. Their reimagining of the space is both a small prayer to the existing nature and the legacy of the architecture, dressed in their personal experience and the design principles that have formed their visual language."