Permitted. Pasadena, CA

Sculptural interventions and functional objects drive major interior renovations and a ground-up pool house (ADU) for a significant yet heavily altered 1964 home. Originally designed by John Pugsley it is colloquially known as the Eyebrow House, in the neighborhood because of its jaunty and prominent central atrium roofline on an otherwise blank facade. While in good condition, the house had been striped of all interior finishes leaving a mid-century exterior frame in which to work.

The knickname, Eyebrow House inspired our design of each new space as a playful restoration of the body of the house back to whole. We start with the face and work our way down. The new pool house (ADU) borrows its volume from the atrium and is topped with a second "eyebrow" roofline and "eye" window below it. In the new kitchen a second "eye" becomes open shelving. A new wet bar introduces an "ear" and "nose" as door knobs and a mirrored "tongue" lapping you from the interior. Back in the pool house a second "ear" is found as a mosaic on the spa/shower floor located in the "neck"-shaped central volume. On the lower level of the main house, the new media and family room is an "intestine" dark and plush for viewing, gaming and hanging. And finally a new primary bath offers striped knickers, groin and legs for soft relaxation.