A 3500 square foot house including a large workshop for the owner, a maker of cane fly-fishing rods. Construction, scheduled for the fall of 1988, was to be phased over a number of years as it was the owner's intention to fabricate many of the components of the house himself.

Site
An open grassy lot, 80 feet wide by 175 feet deep, located on a ridge in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles. From the street the site slopes very steeply down to provide panoramic views of the valley below and further ranges of low hills to the west.

Design
Three principal considerations shaped our design: The first had to do with the climate of the region which is characterized by long summers of extreme heat and intense light. The historical response to these conditions has been an architecture of large wall surfaces with limited numbers of small openings, of high walled courts, and of broad shading devices. The second had to do with the simple but powerful condition of the steeply sloping site; a condition only fully revealed when registered against the constructional absolutes of horizontal and vertical. The third had to do with the ancient, yet highly refined, craft of the owner; and the recognition of the ability of singular artifacts to effect the environment in which they are located.
The house, itself, is essentially earth-related; a stucco cube intersected by the slope of the site. Exterior spaces are limited to a few paved roof terraces to the south and west and a shaded garden court, enclosed by high walls, to the north. Window openings are either small, deeply recessed, or shaded. Interiors are simple planar volumes.
The primary exception to this predominantly elemental character is a wood and glass interstice which bisects the house in the direction of the slope. Here stairs fall within an increasing rift between the halves of the house to "reveal" the site and make its presence central to the experience of the house. Here, too, an assortment of wood constructions animates the interior. A vaguely anthropomorphic column, hollow, constructed of radial splines like the cane rods made by the owner provides a duct for the destratification of air within the three story volume of the rift. A pair of gently arched bridges span the rift, tying the two halves of the house together.Other constructions enliven the perimeter of the house: the north garden court is inhabited by a smaller column whose upraised arms support a glazed eating porch. To the west, bracketed outriggers stretch to shade terraces and the large openings of living and dining room. These outriggers, half sail and half fishing rod in conception, provide a dynamic contrast to the mute static masses of the house, and at the same time signal the unusual craft of the owner.

Construction
For the most part construction of the house is comprised of conventional wood framing on a concrete grade beam and pile foundation. Exterior walls are stucco, roof terraces and patios are concrete, interior walls are painted gypsum board. Within this general envelope special elements such as the column, bridges, and roof framing of the rift, the eating porch in the north garden court, doors, window frames, and most cabinetry items were to be fabricated by the owner from a variety of woods. The large sunshade elements above the living and dining room terraces to the west are a composite wood and steel construction rigged with a specially woven sunshade fabric.