Photography by Scott Van Dyke
Feature: House Proud: Super Remodel
September 1, 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."
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