Tucked toward the rear, this area maintains a direct connection to the backyard, providing a quiet retreat from the visually loud public zones. 3. Structural Fractures and Light Wells
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Located in the new extension on the ground floor, these spaces feature asphalt flooring, bringing a literal element of the street indoors. The ceiling strips away drywall to expose the raw wooden framing and studs of the original house's exterior.
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Upon entering the house, visitors do not step into a traditional foyer. Instead, they enter the newly constructed perimeter zone. This wrap-around space contains the kitchen and dining areas.
The floor plan is designed to create a fluid connection between the interior and exterior. For instance, the view from inside is often directed upward toward the sky through angled slits in the walls or the glass roof, rather than directly onto the street. At night, the tilted glass planes in the addition reflect car lights and the moon, disorienting the viewer's sense of place in a way that Gehry found compelling. This playful manipulation of light and view is a deliberate feature of the layout.
A comparison between this early work and Gehry's later like the Bilbao Guggenheim. Share public link Tucked toward the rear, this area maintains a
Frank Gehry’s personal home in Santa Monica, California, stands as a foundational monument of Deconstructivist architecture. Built around an existing 1920s Dutch Colonial gambrel-roofed house, the 1978 renovation shattered traditional concepts of residential design. By wrapping the original structure in industrial materials like corrugated metal, chain-link fencing, and plywood, Gehry created a complex dialogue between the old and the new.
This strategy created a literal "house within a house." The floor plan reads as a historical artifact enclosed in an avant-garde display case. Gehry stripped back the plaster walls of the original house to expose the wooden studs and joists, turning structural framing into visual screens. Consequently, the boundaries of the floor plan are never absolute; rooms look into other rooms, and structural skeletons frame views of adjacent spaces. Ground Floor Plan: The Collision of Public Spaces
Unlike the traditional wood flooring of the old house, the kitchen floor is paved with asphalt, intentionally blurring the line between the outdoor streetscape and the indoor domestic space. The ceiling strips away drywall to expose the
This is the primary circulation spine. It is narrow—barely 4 feet wide. One side is a glass balustrade looking down into the old living room. The other side is the original exterior siding of the house, now an interior wall.
Frank Gehry, known for his bold and unconventional designs, has always been fascinated by the relationship between architecture and the human experience. In the 1970s, Gehry began experimenting with new design approaches, pushing the boundaries of traditional architecture. The Gehry Residence, his own home, was the perfect opportunity to test his ideas and create a living space that reflected his avant-garde vision.
If you are studying the blueprint, pay attention to the windows. They are not placed for symmetry. They are placed to frame specific views of the neighbors' houses—views that Gehry then distorted by angling the framing studs. The floor plan dictates exactly where your eye will stop.
