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An open, sliding glass door gives living room an outdoor feel.

Wooden You Know It

Architect adds an indoor-outdoor living element to innovative wood-clad L.A. home.

For a 620-square-foot addition to a spectacular wood-covered modern home in the northeast Los Angeles neighborhood of Hermon, architect Martin Fenlon was faced with the challenge of improving the original structure without compromising its pristine design and unique appearance.

Categories

  • Remodel
  • Series 2600
  • Classic Line
  • Multi-slide door

Location

  • California
The indoor sitting space extends to the backyard through a large sliding glass door.

The indoor sitting space extends to the backyard.

One look at the “Annex,” as the L.A.-based designer calls it, and it’s clear he succeeded.

Fenlon’s design approach was to create an addition that is both an extension of, and transition to, the home’s newly formed backyard while maintaining a separate identity from the original home.

It all started with the notion of the indoor-outdoor living concept that is popular in Southern California.

“What sets Western Window Systems apart from the competition is the ability to do such a large wood multi-slide unit.”
- Martin Fenlon
Martin Fenlon Architecture
The living room has an indoor-outdoor feel thanks to the large sliding glass door.

The living room viewing room has an indoor-outdoor feel.

“The Annex’s large multi-slide door was central to the design; the space, which is filled with natural light, was actually planned around it,” Fenlon says. “The multi-slide integrates the new family room with the yard.”

At 21 feet wide and 10 feet tall, the Series 2600 Aluminum-Clad Multi-Slide Wood Door also gave Fenlon the ability to maintain the wood-covered motif found throughout the home.

The original home features walnut flooring and the Annex, completed in 2018, has acacia flooring. The exterior doors and windows, including an eye-catching 9-foot-wide, 5.5-foot-high window on the front of the Annex that emulates a picture frame, are made of Douglas fir. The interior doors and cabinetry are clad in a teak veneer, and the home’s exterior siding is cedar.

Perpendicular to the new family room is an elevated pass-through window from a small outdoor bar to the kitchen. When the owners are entertaining, the huge picture window can slide completely open on a barn door track system, further blurring the lines between indoors and the outside.

Two bar stools in front of a bar window add an outdoor extension to the home, especially when it is open for serving drinks.

Two bar stools in front of a bar window add an outdoor extension to the home, especially when it is open for serving drinks.

“Western Window Systems’ Series 2600 Aluminum-Clad Wood Sliding Door exceeded California’s stringent energy requirements.”
- Martin Fenlon
Martin Fenlon Architecture
A customized and oversized window that sits in a wooden frame gives the front of the house a unique entrance.

The customized and oversized window that sits in a wooden frame gives the front of the house a unique entrance.

To top the project off, literally and figuratively, a lovely rooftop deck sits above the Annex.

“When you’re up there, you feel like you’re nestled in between the original house, the tree canopies, and the hills in the distance,” Fenlon says. “At night, you can sit up there and see the stars.”

“Western Window Systems fulfilled perfectly our goal of having the largest wood sliding doors available, with a flush threshold and the option to have zero trim around the frame.”
- Martin Fenlon
Martin Fenlon Architecture
Western Window System

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