This house was a challenge, as we determined with the owners that a courtyard house was the preferred typology, yet the site dropped thirty feet downslope from the street with three narrow terraces of varying width. After reviewing several images provided by the owners of house styles they liked, we were pleased to discover that they gravitated to the work of Irving Gill, perhaps the greatest pre-war, Southern California architect at that time. The courtyard typology, combined with the hillside challenge and the chance to work in a truly pure and rare architectural vocabulary saw us rise to the occasion. The Smith Residence remains one of our proudest efforts.
