NOT SPANISH STYLE HOUSE

THROUGH A SERIES OF DISCUSSIONS, THE CLIENTS’ PREDILECTION FOR SPANISH COLONIAL AND MEDITERRANEAN STYLES SLOWLY TRANSFORMED INTO A GREATER APPRECIATION OF THE ABSTRACT QUALITIES INHERENT IN ALL GOOD ARCHITECTURE: LIGHT-FILLED SPACE, DYNAMIC ORDER, REFINED SIMPLICITY AND THE BEAUTY OF NATURAL MATERIALS. RATHER THAN FOLLOW ANY PARTICULAR HISTORICAL STYLE, IT IS THESE TIMELESS QUALITIES WE SOUGHT TO EVOKE IN DESIGNING AND BUILDING THIS HOUSE.

THE EXTERIOR OF THE HOUSE IS EXPRESSIVE OF BOTH STABILITY AND DYNAMISM. FROM AFAR, THE HOUSE APPEARS AS A FREESTANDING WHITE PAVILION SET ON A SLOPED, VERDANT SITE. UPON APPROACH, THE COMPLEXITIES OF FORM-MAKING AND VOLUMETRIC RELATIONSHIPS START TO BECOME REVEALED.

THE HOUSE IS ESSENTIALLY COMPRISED OF TWO WINGS WITH AN OPEN TWO-STORY CIRCULATION SPINE BETWEEN. THE NORTH WING, WHICH CONTAINS SERVICE AREAS, CHILDREN’S SUITES AND FAMILY ROOM, IS FORMED AS A CONTINUOUS LINEAR BAR; WHILE THE SOUTH WING, CONTAINING LIVING, DINING, KITCHEN AND MASTER SUITE, IS FORMED AS A SERIES OF FOUR INTERLOCKING PAVILIONS SET AT VARYING ANGLES. THE TWO WINGS, ONE LINEAR AND ONE ZIG-ZAGGING, INTERFACE WITHIN THE CENTRAL CIRCULATION SPACE, WHICH IN TURN FUNCTIONS AS GALLERY AND PLAYROOM AS WELL AS STAIRWELL AND HALLWAY,

CLERESTORY WINDOWS BRING AN ABUNDANCE OF DAYLIGHT INTO THE HOUSE, WHILE THE ROOF OVERHANG PROTECTS FROM EXCESS SUN. THE RESULT IS A WONDERFULLY LIGHT-FILLED SPACE THAT REMAINS COOL YEAR ROUND.

THE NESSIM’S HOUSE WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 1991 AND IS PARTICULARLY SPECIAL TO JESSE AS IT WAS THE LAST PROJECT HE CONSTRUCTED WITH HIS FATHER, HARRY BORNSTEIN. OVER THE YEARS SINCE, THE CLIENTS HAVE ENGAGED JESSE AND FELLOW CONSULTANTS WITH A NUMBER OF INTERVENTIONS - INCLUDING THE ADDITION OF A SWIMMING POOL, HARDSCAPE WITH FIRE BOWL, AND MOST RECENTLY AN EXTENSIVE OVERHAUL OF INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR FINISHES. HAPPILY, WITH EACH INTERVENING PROJECT INSIDE AND OUT, THE ESSENCE OF THE HOUSE HAS ONLY BEEN ENHANCED.