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On the exterior of the barn, vernacular elements reminiscent of French-Canadian barns include the standing-seam metal gambrel roof, which is accented with cupolas, and two silos clad in sheet metal.
Project Details
Project Story
In some houses, memory is as essential an ingredient as a requisite spice in a favorite entree. Such was the case with the
residence of Richard Landry, an award-winning architect based in Southern California. For his own home, which straddles a striking promontory overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, Landry imported the post-and-beam framework of a century-old barn from his native Quebec. Then, he explains, “I interpreted the memories of my childhood in a creative way” by retrofitting the structure to accommodate aspects of his ultra-contemporary lifestyle—which includes, among other things, a gym and steam room. The most spectacular aspect of Landry’s new-old barn is his expansive use of glass. Huge windows and sliding glass doors open to the ocean view, and, on the ground floor, to a dining patio and pool.
The heart of the barn is an expansive great room embracing the living/dining areas; it soars 35 feet to exposed trusswork and a pitched raftered ceiling. Behind a partial wall to the
dining area lies the kitchen, a congenial space that centers on an island containing, among other amenities, a wine rack and sink. “Many people consider the kitchen to be purely utilitarian and so they put it at the back of a house,” Landry says. “In the barn, it is a pivotal place.”
The gutsy room exposes all its bones: joists and beams,
metal ductwork, and open shelves for dinnerware. The kitchen’s most dramatic feature is what Landry calls a “floating plane”—an angular, squared-off “donut” suspended from the beams—that houses high-hat lighting. Track lighting above the plane adds a soft, moody glow. Rustic cabinetry crafted from alder was finished with a semitransparent stain in a warm brown. Several stains, including brown, orange, green, and burgundy were rubbed, “like watercolor,” Landry says, into the lava-gray concrete floor, where the grout changes color to coordinate with the modulating tones of the stains. Major appliances are all enameled a brilliant cobalt blue, a cool hue that echoes the night sky.
Four bathrooms occupy twin silos that flank the barn and are sheathed in galvanized sheet-metal. The master bath features a striking floor of multicolored marble imported from Greece; the marble offsets a classic white claw-foot tub and pedestal sink as if they were pieces of sculpture. The steam room, clad in marble imported from Spain, has two giant showerheads that rain down upon the steam bench. The powder room features a sink made from a handsome chunk of stone quarried locally; water is fed into it from a hand-driven water pump, a small-scale version of those Landry was familiar with during his rural youth. Old and new, rural and high-tech: All of these amenities add up to a tantalizing menu for comfort and pleasure.
Old World Style
SIMPLE SURFACES Using the same material for the full height of the backsplash as well as all countertops is both handsome and practical, as the continuous surface is easy to clean.
OPEN STORAGE Storing most-used dinnerware on open shelves allows for easy access, and provides additional textural interest in the room.
FAUX DÉCOR So-called “bean drawers”—actually one-inch-deep displays of beans and legumes—add a rustic touch to several drawers in the base cabinets and island.
