Garikutado means "a place for frivolous things," as the owners of this house jokingly call their beautiful art and artifacts from Japan. The house, built in 2004, was a simple ranch. I was asked to design an addition that would house their family room, a tea room/sunporch, a small library, a guest suite, and a laundry.

The addition needed to reflect the principles of Japanese art and homes...and the challenge is the the wife is a modernist while the husband is a traditionalist. I tried to marry the two sensibilities by using beautiful materials like mahogany and steel while focusing on craftsmanship. The spectacular gardens were constructed completely by hand by the owners.