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Architect creates open and airy beach look out of small space in Coronado

Classic, Yet Comfy

How do you create a sense of spaciousness and privacy if a house is only 18 feet wide and the neighbors’ homes are a mere six feet away?

That was the challenge for architect Christian Rice when he built this 2,900-square-foot home in Coronado in 2008.

The key to his success was to maximize the space and bring in as much natural light as possible. The result is an open and airy home that Rice calls the “iconic Coronado beach house.”

A wide front porch, anchored by two sturdy columns, gives the façade a strong horizontal line, belying the long, narrow home stretching to the back of the 25-foot by 140-foot lot. Often called Billy Boxes – named after contractor Bill Lyons, who was believed to have built the first of these tall, narrow houses in Coronado – these homes have had a controversial history in Coronado, because they are created by dividing one 50-by-140-foot lot, thus increasing density.

See more photos and read the entire UT article here.

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1 member likes this

Comment by Buzz Fink on July 25, 2012 at 10:56pm: Christian Rice is awesome!!!

Buzz

Comment by TR on July 26, 2012 at 7:36pm: Not sure about the exterior, but nice finish inside...

Comment by Susan Ebert on July 30, 2012 at 9:28am: Christian created the remodel for my home as well. He is excellent!

Comment by JM on August 5, 2012 at 2:19pm: RANT: The houses built are actually a mere 3 feet away from the property line, pushing the limits to our specific zoning ordinances creating privacy issues. As far as the yearlong construction goes, early morning hammering, power tool usage, and other incredibly loud ambient noise producing nuisances that start before the allowed time and going past the 7 p.m. cut off, then continuing through Sunday can be a major headache for the neighboring home owners. I love Coronado and I would love it even more when there is parking available for the owners and not just the construction workers and EDCO leave-behind portable dumpsters that sit for months outside not being used, or taken when full. It’s tragic when you see a beautiful neighborhood littered with trash left behind by the construction workers; this is not limited to nails and construction supplies that fall onto the neighbor’s property for their children or dogs to walk over but, Gatorade bottles, cigarette butts, and consumer food packaging as well. The once beautiful and well-manicured grass in front of the neighboring house now resembles some unkempt, underfunded youth soccer field.

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