The views of the Sierra Pelona mountains in the state of California, in the United States of America, jump out at you. Here, in Castaic, in the midst of nature, dotted with oak, sagebrush, beavertail cactus and native yucca, the Arroyo Oak House, designed by Aaron Neubert Architects, takes centre stage. The challenge was to engage the diversity of the surrounding landscape with the house, making it an open and transparent space, immersed in natural light. On the ground, the layout of the spaces gives rise to varying scales of gardens, terraces and decks, leading the landscape elements to pass into the interior of the house. The elevated, zinc-clad volume, meanwhile, focuses attention on the distant ridgelines, capturing the impression of clouds. The split-level interior spaces expand into outdoor terraces, always with the rural landscape in the background. On the ground floor we find the gym, laundry room, guest suite, kitchen and living room, and the pool terrace, which extends into the hillside providing unobstructed panoramic views, where the outdoor living room is also located. The first floor contains the master bedroom, the home office and two bedrooms, all connecting to the lounge deck. This is another project that adapts the poetic relationship between landscape, light and materiality, which characterises the work developed by the studio.
