Bayside, Newport Beach, CA

This home is situated on a small corner lot between Newport bay and the busy Bayside Drive.  Connecting the indoors to the outdoors was critical to the home being a success, as the lot was so narrow with very little open exterior space remaining after the home was planned.  Therefore, flow from the noisy crowded street to the serene open bay front was imperative.  The flow somewhat reminds the occupant of traveling through a large cabin cruiser sail boat.  From Bayside Drive, a stair between the garages drops you into a tranquil exterior gallery between an outdoor courtyard and the maid’s room.  From there, the house is a series of interconnected well-proportioned spaces that were planned with all the consideration of light and volume.  A stair tower facing the less busy side street grounds the house and gives it a strikingly tall, unique feature that creates the formal entry statement and a sense of arrival for the visitor.  Because of the tight constraints of the site, many of the landscape features were designed as part of the home by the architect.  The exterior fireplace and fence are made of the same materials as the home, once again reinforcing the connection to the outdoors.  A private dock on the bay reinforces the descent to the “bow” of the home.