Fraser New Construction
History behind the project
This project is near and dear to our hearts because it was the first property that we bought in 2018. It was a complete tear down of the existing duplex, so we designed and built a triplex in its place. This project launched our design practice.
Wei left her corporate architecture job to manage the design and the construction with Daniel. It also presented a great opportunity to offer our services to other people since we knew the pain points of homeowners navigating the design and permitting process. It was something we were going through ourselves. Daniel worked as a deputy inspector at the time, so we had a lot of connections with contractors and homeowners.
It’s one of our favorite projects because we designed it, built it, and actually lived in it for a year. Now, two of the three units are rented to amazing long-term tenants and one unit (the one we lived in) is an Airbnb (photos below).
The project consists of:
- Complete demo of 1,700 SF house (4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, dining and living room area)
- New construction triplex of 2,250 SF
- Unit 1: 3 bedroom and 2 bathrooms
- Unit 2: 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom
- Unit 3: 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms
Location: East Los Angeles / Los Angeles
Design Elements
We wanted a light-filled space with views to the outside so we included many windows throughout the second floor (living areas) and access to the outside on both floors. Cross-ventilation was important too, we wanted a house that felt airy, so we put windows across each other. The tall vaulted ceiling helps make the space feel taller and brighter. We hardly turned on the AC while we were living there.
The first floor was our office space and a gym and the second floor was our main living area. We loved spending time there, looking out the windows towards our avocado tree and the El Sereno mountains beyond. So many lessons came from this house, lessons that we’ve used in other projects we’ve designed.
