benjamin benschneider photo
Lopez Island Beach House
Designed by Jim Graham of
Graham Baba Architects
grahambaba.com
Positioned a stone’s throw from the water’s
edge, this Lopez beach house was
highly customized to the client’s needs
and the site’s restrictions. Capitalizing
on the incredible western view, it features
several natural materials including
exposed cedar and fir, steel, glass, and
local fieldstone that helped the clients
immerse themselves in the locale. With
an open floorplan and large panelized
glazing system, the barrier between the
interior and exterior is blurred, making
nature a constant element within the
house.
Did remodeling so close to the water present
any unique considerations?
The original house did not take advantage
of the stunning location. The house
had no connection to the outdoors. At
the water’s edge was a large bulkhead
and it was lined by juniper bushes. You
couldn’t even access the water from the
property.
The existing house was sold, cut off
the foundation and relocating it to a different
island (a move which meant the
project had near zero demolition waste).
We completely removed the bulkhead
and undertook a full beach
restoration. This required working with
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