From the street, this low slung contemporary appears to be a single-level house - but it packs two full floors and 2.800 square feet into a 50x28-foot area. To include the extra livability without reaching for the sky, the second story is downstairs. The result is a four-bedroom house that's every bit as pactical as it is eye-catching, one that takes unusual advatange of a terraced, rearward sloping lot.
Generous use of glass makes the front look particularly inviting at night and if you look carefully you can see right through the house to the backyard. The flar roof is supported by exposed posts and beams, so the walls could be almost any material you like; there are plywood, grooved to simulate planking. Otherwise, the entire facade is open, with vertically slatted blinds at the upper and lower level windows.
Here's a descendant of the old fashioned front porch - a covered entry deck where you can wait to welcome callers. The entry is further defined by plantings and a low wall built of the same fieldstone used for the fireplace and chimney. Colorful door contrasts with predominantly natural tones in beams and siding. Left of the door, the window wall has a sliding glass panel that connects the dining area with the deck, so you can move otuside for summer meals.
At the rear, the house reveals its twi-story personality, but even here it doesn't look too tall because the horizontal lines of the roofed balcony and patio tend to minimize any impression of height. The kitchen entry echoes the rear balcony theme. Big splashes of color on the doors, draperies, framing and outdoor furniture add excitement to the overall design.
Materials in the living room are the same as those used outside - stone, wood and glass. Color comes from the furnishings and accessories, many of them, like the hooked rug shown here, designed by the owners. The window wall behind it has two sliding doors that open to the rear deck. Doorway at rear leads to the family room.
For all-family conversations, reading, or TV watching, the ahndsome family room is ideal. Children's rough-and-tumble activities van be relegated to the playroom downstairs, but this is just the place for hungry kids - and grownups, too - to relax before dinner. One end of room opens into the kitchen; the other to the rear deck. Here again for openness and even lighting, the partition doesn't extend all the way to the ceiling.
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