Boxy forms wrapped in Danish brick and large stretches of glass form this California residence, which was designed by US firm EYRC to capture light and connect to the outdoors.
The Waverley house sits on a half-acre site in a leafy, century-old neighbourhood in Palo Alto, just a few blocks from the home of late Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Created for a young couple, the Silicon Valley residence features a main dwelling and a detached guest house.
Photograph by Joe Fletcher
Meant to be "a study in strong, simple composition", the home consists of rectilinear volumes that are offset in plan. In the front of the dwelling, the upper portion cantilevers over the ground level, appearing to gesture toward the street.
"The massing defines solid and void, captures natural light and connects the indoors with the landscape ? seeking to experience the outdoors from within," said Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects (EYRC) in a project statement.
The team aimed to give the home a museum-like quality, and prioritised materiality and craft.
Lower exterior walls are clad in grey, hand-fired bricks from Denmark that are longer and thinner than traditional bricks. The dimensions are meant to emphasise "the horizontality of the architecture that lays solidly on the land".

The upper walls of the home are covered with stainless steel panels. Fascias are wrapped in bronze, while honey-toned wood was used for soffits.
The main dwelling provides varying levels of transpa...