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INSPIRED MODERN HOMES
LEFT, ABOVE & FACING PAGE: My task for Flight House was
to design a single-family, live-work home in the agricultural
California Central Valley countryside in the Pacific Flyway.
Located just 10 minutes away from town, this 2,800 square-foot
custom homestead was an opportunity for a couple to bring
back childhood memories of playing in far-flung meadows and
to bring them to life for their young son.
The house is a Central Valley adaptation of the Case Study
Houses of Pierre Koenig. Working more than 60 years ago,
Koenig's vision for affordable contemporary living, providing
modernity and elegance together with privacy and openness,
is applicable today. I made the most of the client's modest
budget to create a contemporary, regionally inspired house that
captures the diurnal cycle, tracking the sun's path from sunrise to
sunset. Its architectural language takes cues from the expansive
valley sky, long views, and circadian rhythms of the site, and the
structural wings pay homage to the hundreds of bird species
that travel the Pacific Flyway, as well as the planes that crisscross
the sky far above. Tall folding glass doors open the corners of
the house to the exterior when the weather allows, seamlessly
connecting the interior and the land. t builds on the heritage of
California modernism, but is constructed of materials that have
been adapted to be more energy-efficient and livable in the
Central Valley desert climate.
Photographs by Julia Ogrydziak
