Rear Window House

The Rear Window house is a discreet yet decidedly modern remodel + master suite addition to a seventy-year-old bungalow in Los Angeles. Through careful sequencing of new spaces and strategically located apertures, the project opens itself up to become deeply integrated with the rear garden. While the existing house served admirably as a compact starter home for decades, the owner’s growing family necessitated building a master suite extension into the backyard. To strengthen the connection between old and new, the addition maintains the 3:12 prevailing roof slope of the existing house. The new volume is entirely skinned with asphalt roofing shingles, which anchors the building to the vernacular materiality of the area while projecting a uniquely contemporary identity. A covered back porch, concrete platform, and extruded window frames further the sense of horizontal extension into the backyard. Existing interiors have been updated to be simple and bright, via new skylights, bleached oak floors, and white walls. The project culminates in the master bedroom’s expansive rear window, formed of aluminum-clad plate steel, which cantilevers above a pool of water. The window offers the intense experience of sleeping and awakening in nature, and often the house feels a thousand miles from the city.