Storey calls this house the “Eel’s Nest,” after the narrow urban properties that go by that name in Japan. Its façade was originally going to be wood, but because of local building codes and the fact the building is built along the edge of the property line, the exterior had to be fireproof. Storey covered it with stucco instead. “I wanted it to look as rough as possible,” says the architect. “Since it’s such a small house, it needed to be tough-looking.”
The workshop at ground level measures less than 200 square feet, but is set up to accommodate any kind of woodworking or welding; when not in use, the architect parks his car inside.
The uncompromising verticality of architect Simon Storey’s black stucco-clad Echo Park home was his response to an unusually tight site; sandwiched between a concrete stairway and another property, it’s a mere 15 feet wide.
The low-budget, four-level design—comprising a combination garage/workshop, an open-plan living room and kitchen with adjoining patio, a third story with a bathroom and two rooms (one of which functions as Storey’s architecture studio), and a roof terrace—solved the spatial issues in a no-frills way. It wasn’t until after the house was finished THAT Storey realized it offered a different way of living.
“I never expected it to be that interesting, actually,” he admits. “It was only after I started living here that I realized 960 square feet is all you need, as long as it’s well thought out and has lots of natural light. It becomes a liberating space to live in, because it’s nothing more than you need.”
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