SIRMAI-PETERSON RESIDENCE
Thousand Oaks, California

Situated on a 2-acre rural site adjacent to a ravine and a storm drain, this 3,000-square foot residence developed as a church-like form, with the typical residential program elements clustered around the perimeter of a central cruciform structure containing the core of the house.

A more traditional spatial experience results from the conscious attempt to create an architectural vocabulary by putting disparate objects back together, rather than making every room a separate building. Taking advantage of the site's varied topography, the kitchen, dining room, entry and den meet to form a high central cross-shaped element. The adjacent living room suggests a nave, the fireplace an apse and the hall to the living room a side aisle. Two bedroom/bath blocks are attached to the west side; one is reached by a bridge, the other via a sunken tunnel.

The formal space between the bedrooms and the living room is expressed as an interior courtyard, visible from the entry and accessible from the living room and bedroom structures. The relationship of the buildings to the courtyard is likened to the town square of a medieval city and is central to the design of the house as a whole. Rooms not fronting the courtyard face out toward a shallow lake, which was made by damming the existing watercourse.

Exterior materials are natural gray stucco, galvanized metal, and concrete block. Interior materials are drywall, exposed wood rafters, unpainted plywood, and concrete block.