John Ellis
Feature: The House on the Strand
July 1, 2007
When searching for a "little surf
condo" within walking distance of the beach, Christie Peck was surprised to find
herself inspecting a rag-tag, 1930s waterfront house, two blocks from where she
grew up, on Southern California’s Long Beach Peninsula. "Never in a million
years did I think I’d end up in the same community where I grew up," she says.
"I didn’t think too much of the house until I went up to the second floor and
looked out at the view. I thought, My God, I’m going to make an offer."; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Metal railings bring a touch of the exterior
ocean liner aesthetic inside. (Click image to enlarge)
Peck bought the home, but because of the great expense involved
in repairing what she calls "about 105 things that needed to be fixed," she
decided it was cheaper to tear it down and start anew. A cousin in the
construction business referred her to Craig Schultz and Scott Laidlaw, partners
in the Corona Del Mar firm Laidlaw Schultz Architects.
During their first meeting, Peck told them about her lifetime
affinity for the ocean. Growing up on the Peninsula, she had the kind of
barefoot lifestyle that involved sailing, surfing and waterskiing—sports she
continues to enjoy today. "I’m happiest without my shoes on," she confesses.
The Peninsula also nurtured her interest in cruise ships,
"especially the great old liners" like the Queen Mary, the Art Déco icon
permanently docked at Long Beach since 1967.
When Peck told the architects she wanted something along the
lines of Le Corbusier’s 1929 Villa Savoye, they were thrilled. They considered
the house the perfect inspiration. "I think the early modernists were borrowing
from those cruise liners," says Schultz. "All the pipe rails and
white-on-white—they were obviously looking at what was going on in the
industrial portion of their society at the time."; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Inspired by Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye, the
original design was softened by the facade’s curved windows. (Click image to enlarge)
A month later, the partners produced a drawing that left Peck, a novice to homebuilding, in awe. "There were all the windows in the front, and bridges and railings," she recalls. "They just executed everything that I said so
perfectly." Far from the surf shack she originally envisioned, the resulting
3,600-square-foot house is more like a luxury beach loft.
Because of its location and Peck’s ocean-oriented lifestyle,
the design centered around the waterfront and views. The home echoes the white
rectangular shape of Villa Savoye and borrows its great expanses of glass in the
form of double-height windows. The curve of the windows along a corner of the
facade, combined with the occasional railed decks that open up to the ocean,
recall the elegance of a Déco ocean liner.
The windows become the defining element of the double-height
living room and adjoining upstairs office. The architects’ ingenious use of
frosted glass along the bottom of the windows creates privacy, shielding from
public view those sitting on the low, plush sofas the architects designed and
the Binotti leather chairs, while permitting natural light to enter.
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