Davisson Residence, Property, California Home, Architecture Development, Images
Davisson Residence on Capistrano Beach
House right on the Beach, California, USA – design by Lehrer Architects
2 Sep 2016
Davisson Residence
Location: Capistrano Beach, California, United States of America
Design: Lehrer Architects
Davisson Residence on Capistrano Beach

The program of the Davisson Residence called for a three-bedroom house, with a study and a guestroom, on the 437 square meter site ? a flat, narrow, beachfront ?urban? lot with minimal side yard setbacks. The charge to the architect was to maximize space and to fully exploit the presence of the beach and ocean and the dramatic vistas they afford.

The solution was to create a grand, curved, processional datum wall which establishes appropriate degrees of privacy and pries itself (along with the shifted axis) from the straightjacket of the site geometry. The public zone then is framed, opened, and dematerialized as an object, rendering it both of and apart from the beach.  
The house is at its full buildable width at the street; entry is at the minimum sideyard squeeze. The procession along the curve widens to allow room for the entry door, then continues to open the great room entirely to the ocean. The bedroom is glazed on four sides, three with ocean views. There are direct and oblique views of the ocean from virtually the entire house.

?Slice of Heaven: Despite having to work with a narrow piece of beachfront, archit...