In temperate La Jolla, California, a narrow building lot and a desire for a generous outdoor living area gave rise to the straightforward rectilinear motifs of the 5,300-square-foot Cresta House, a three-story coastal residence designed by San Diego architect Jonathan Segal for himself and his wife, Wendy. “The house wanted to be a pure form on this site,” Segal says. He conceived the cast-in-place concrete structure as an orthogonal volume, slicing and shaping rooms and functional spaces within and around it, and creating openings to maximize ocean views and daylight.

Now the house is the couple's oasis from the downtown office of the family's architecture and development firm. (Wendy and Jonathan's son Matthew oversaw Cresta House's construction.) The subterranean level, illuminated partially by in-floor skylights, comprises a wine cellar, workout room, and TV room with a bar, while the ground floor contains the main public spaces, and the second floor holds bedrooms and an office. “We spend most of our time in the outdoor room,” says Segal, referring to the living spaces on the ground floor that open to terraces. “It feels private and serene, yet we can also hear the birds and ocean and feel a strong connection to the neighborhood when we sit out there. It's our urban house within a suburban context.”