Feature: House Proud: Super Remodel
09/01/2006
Remodeling a house always engenders surprises; rarely does it lead to an entirely new house in an entirely new location. Yet that is exactly how Pia Chapman and François Sulic came to leave their first La Jolla, Calif., address in 2003 and move to their modern maison perched in a cul-de-sac above the La Jolla Country Club, with not so much as a ninth-hole snack shop—let alone a mini mall or McDonald’s—obscuring the drop-dead view. Carpets of green fairways unroll to the blues of the Pacific and the hues on the horizon in an utterly unique site found through serendipity, resolve and lightning-fast reflexes. "We were already working with an architect to remodel our previous house," says Chapman, "but then François and I saw this place—and that was it." Adds Sulic, "We closed escrow in 17 days."The house, however, did not match its airy aerie. Built in 1980 in a style evoking Richard Meier’s, it had been redone three times since, the last transmogrification a Moroccan Miami Vice fantasy with scallop motifs and gold used in profusion. Worse yet (if one dare imagine), the house was structurally unsound. The only solution was for Chapman and Sulic to rebuild the house according to their shared vision: a clean-lined, Bauhaus-inspired contemporary conducive to, as Sulic says, "comfortable minimalism." Fortunately Chapman, principal and founder of the interior design firm Cocoon Studio, and who has a background in commercial and residential design, was more than up to the task. Not that it was as easy as a walk in the abutting parklike golf course grounds.
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The kitchen’s curved stainless steel island is
reminiscent of Art Deco forms. Chapman and Sulic’s vision for the space was
to reference a 1950s diner in a modern way. The appliances are from Sub-Zero and
Miele. (Click image to enlarge) Taking the house down to the studs, Chapman and Sulic stuck to the original perimeter to avoid the rigors of dealing with California’s Coastal Commission. Even so, 95 percent of the "renovated" house is in fact new. "The problem, and the challenge, is that the original walls didn’t even plumb straight," says Terry Wardell of Wardell Builders, who frequently builds structurally challenging houses such as Chapman and Sulic’s, indicating just how close to a bare ground zero the renovation went. The result, however, is three stories and 4,000 square feet of largely open space—no doorways in the public areas—as well as ceilings climbing as high as 17 feet and a vantage point from the top-floor loft, down past the living room and entry to the pond in the basement, which measures 30 feet. "The proportion feels great, and the areas are fluid," says Chapman.
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The view into the kitchen. (Click image to enlarge) All in a mere 18 months. German by birth, Chapman, who grew up in a Bauhaus-style penthouse, chuckles, "I knew it would be an extensive job; François thought we could get by with less." Not that Sulic evinces anything but pleasure. "It feels like you’re floating in every room," he says. More than a mere testament to the couple’s shared tastes, the house also combines their talents: Chapman’s in the design itself, and Sulic’s in the articulation of that design. "There are four basic elements—concrete, steel, wood and glass—found in varying proportions in almost every room," explains Sulic, a native of Santiago, Chile, who has lived in the U.S. for 33 years, and whose company, Sulic Worldwide, a creative services agency, includes branding among its communication specialties. "Likewise, the house is defined by four dominant icons—the fireplace, the property’s gate, the kitchen island and powder room." Conceived to resemble a fish tank, the 500-pound fireplace is glass on all four sides. Called Fire on Ice because its flames illuminate a firebed of crushed starlight glass, the fireplace can been seen from the entry, dining and living rooms, and is lit, according to Chapman, a minimum of three times a week. Steel, in this case 316 marine-grade stainless, is duly represented in the 2-by-2-inch poles that form the gate, each one set in concrete at a specified curve and forming a specific pattern. Then there is the kitchen, outfitted with an industrial stainless steel island, concrete countertops and custom walnut cabinets and containing the latest in kitchen accoutrements, but evoking a retro feeling nonetheless. "It’s our 21st-century interpretation of a 1950s diner," says Sulic, the charm of his accent making the riff on American nostalgia more multilayered and amusing.
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Bottom photo: Ocean views can be taken in from Cini Boeri’s glass Ghost Chair. (Click images to enlarge)
But for the real showstopper, as well as a real party, the powder room is the destination. "It’s amazing how often we entertain there," says Chapman. It’s not, though. Not when one wall is entirely covered in 20-by-20-inch LED tiles ("one master, the rest slaves," says Sulic, the description redolent with 1970s Studio 54 titillation). As the tiles change colors, myriad variations are reflected to infinity in the mirrors that cover the other three walls, as well as the ceiling and floor.
Lest one think that living in open, uncluttered minimalism prescribes only one lifestyle, that created for and maintained by obsessive-compulsive adults who crave complete control of their environment, Chapman and Sulic’s 18-month-old triplets, two girls and a boy, offer physical—and at times loud—evidence to the contrary. "When we were remodeling the house were we planning on the babies? No," says Sulic. "But the house is perfect for them." It might require a little more organization, for an errant Lego will stand out more next to a Philippe Starck chair than it would lost in the upholstery of a traditional club chair, but Chapman and Sulic feel such instances are easily outweighed by the design advantages of the house. "It’s actually easier with kids in a minimalist space," says Sulic. "You can move with them easily, and get to them easily. And they can’t hide as well," he laughs.
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The living area at dusk. (Click image to enlarge) Even kid-friendly design and decor alterations were minimal. In the childrens’ areas, Chapman added a little more color and variety of shapes, but furniture choices such as Cini Boeri’s Ghost Chair, which, being glass, might seem child-hostile on first glance, is in fact quite the opposite. "It’s very, very strong," says Chapman, "and there are no hard angles, only curves."
In all respects, Sulic and Chapman seem to know how to take the hard edge off contemporary design, and how to make a house a home.
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Bottom photo: The small powder room features a wall of LED tiles that change colors intermittently, as well as a mirrored ceiling, floor and walls. (Click images to enlarge)
Pia Chapman, Cocoon Studio
858.551.2511
www.cocoonstudio.com
Terry Wardell, Wardell Builders
858.793.4190
www.wardellbuilders.com