When does a kitchen become an art gallery?

While life as a family revolves around spending time together, it also necessitates moments of peace and quiet.

Some years ago, San Francisco architect John Maniscalco came across one of those opportunities that demand a certain stamina: an aging two-story house was available for a relative bargain price but required lengthy negotiations with the city’s historic-preservation board in order to overhaul.

Urban dwellings can feel highly compartmentalized, composed of segregated levels.

The flat, overhanging roof of the new house echoes the horizontal composition of the original modernist house, meant to evoke the vast Los Angeles horizon.

In conceiving this house’s shape, silhouette, and material palette, the architects took cues from familiar forms seen around the neighborhood, like garden sheds and small garages. 

With this modern rammed-earth house, the architect’s aim was to ignite the community’s interest in a sustainable building typology characteristic of the region. 

When music executive Joe Galante retired from his post as chairman of Sony Music Nashville in 2010, he and his wife, Phran, were ready to shed their frenetic, high-profile lifestyle.