By Craig Nakano from the Los Angeles Times

Consider all the potential architectural solutions for modern living, and the split-level house hardly seems an obvious candidate -- not to the average person who summons the image of some postwar dwelling that appears half-sunken in quicksand, its tiny basement windows barely poking above ground, the front door opening to dual sets of stairs and the immediate puzzle: Do I go up? Or do I go down?

There is no such confusion in the Santa Monica home of Jesse Bornstein. Rather than a traditional two-story house, the architect's "split-plane" design calls for half-flights of stairs to separate three levels: the main living and dining areas, the children's bedrooms and family room, and the master suite and sitting room. The open stairwell serves as the house's spine, cleverly keeping the interiors free-flowing yet divided into distinct rooms.

The result embodies what so many people seek: more living space without the McMansion effect; light-filled rooms that feel connected to the outdoors yet still private; and a modern look that comes off as neither cold nor industrial. And all on a tight, sloping lot.

"It's breaking down the box and breaking preconceived notions of what a house should be like," Bornstein says. "It really obscures the conventional notion of floor plates stacked one on top of another."

 

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View the Slow Home entry on the Nikol Residence.