Pinon House, Mid-Century Modern Renovation Reveals Natural Aesthetic

This website spends a good amount of time talking about new homes and innovation, but don’t let us fool you into thinking everything has to be brand new.  Just like the Box House renovation, this house, the Pinon House, is a great example of marrying the old and new to create an incredible living space.  Lead designer Rick Sommerfeld and the3rdspace, with the collaboration of Rob Pyatt, sent us the following narrative of their work on the Pinion House:

The redesign of this 1950’s mid-century modern ranch modernizes a concrete block and plate glass home that was structurally failing due to poor soils conditions.  The structural rework gave an opportunity to reconsider the "usonian" principals on both the interior and exterior of the home.

The entry courtyard is reprogrammed into public and private spaces by the simple insertion of a slated wall that doubles as a bench. The wall filters the view of the private patio from the front courtyard and redirects visitors towards entry while providing seating for the rear courtyard.

The front door is reconsidered as a way to accentuate the slippage of material from exterior to interior. The offset pivot hinge door opens to reveal that the 1×1 block wall continues into home from the exterior wall.

On the interior of the home, the original block wall dividing kitchen and living room was replaced by a three-quarter height, internally illuminated ribbon mahogany wall that helps open the kitchen up from its cramped 1950’s design.

The galvalume ceiling treatment for the kitchen helps reflect light back down onto the work surfaces and continues outside, seemingly through the glass, to cover the soffit. Once outside the metal turns up the fascia where it hides an integrated gutter and ultimately becomes a galvalume standing seam metal roof.

The original cork floor and cedar ceilings were refinished and the lighting was replaced to brighten the spaces. The windows and doors on the north side of the building were replaced to minimize heat loss in the winter.

The original concrete block, unfinished cedar fence, mild steel door, and galvalume roof create a palette of natural materials that will show their age over time. They act in concert as markers of the synthesis between old and new architecture and reconsidered design philosophies.

Narrative Credit: Rick Sommerfeld and Rob Pyatt; Photo credits: Michael Deleon Photo.