The Rear Window house is a discreet yet assuredly modern remodel + master suite addition to a seventy-year-old bungalow in Los Angeles. Through careful sequencing of spaces and strategically located apertures, the project becomes deeply integrated with the rear garden.
To strengthen the connection between old and new, the addition maintains the 3:12 prevailing roof slope of the existing house. The new volume is entirely skinned with asphalt roofing shingles, which anchors the building to the vernacular materiality of the neighborhood while projecting a contemporary identity. A new back porch, concrete platform, and extruded window frames further the sense of horizontal extension into the backyard.
The project culminates in the master bedroom’s expansive rear window, formed of aluminum-clad plate steel, which cantilevers above a pool of water. The window offers the intense experience of sleeping and awakening in nature, and often the house feels a thousand miles from the city.