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In many houses people just disappear, rarely seeing
the rest of the family. This has a more communal,
egalitarian quality.
We discussed at length the sorts of values—for instance
sharing, generosity and openness—we wanted to instill
in our kids, and the way architecture can help reinforce
those values. For instance, I love sitting at the kitchen table
and looking out across the courtyard and seeing my little
boy doing his homework in the attic bedroom, and I can
see the girls at play in their room. I feel we’re all better
connected by the house, even when we are separate and
needing privacy of course.
No matter how planned and prepared you are, there are
always unexpected issues and pleasures. What have been
some of those?
I think the greatest unexpected pleasure is the amount
of borrowed landscape the house enjoys. The courtyard
invites in a lovely eucalypt a couple of houses down. The
courtyard also invites in the sky and other vegetation from
the surrounding neighborhood in a way our old house on
the same site never could. We had a little front window onto
the street and a little back window onto the rear yard. The
fact that we’ve now achieved this volume, extending the
courtyard space to the expansive sky and outlook has
been quite extraordinary.