Anderson Residence

Typology Residential | Wildfire Rebuild

Location Pacific Palisades, CA

Design Phase 2025

Size 9,414 SF

The wildfires left the Pacific Palisades with not only physical destruction but also deep emotional loss. Rebuilding is about more than shelter—it’s about honoring memory, legacy, and place.

Fire-resilient Design

The Anderson Residence serves as a case-study for fire-resistant design. Our approach is rooted in a modernist ethic—an architecture of restraint, proportion, and logic. It simplifies systems and clarifies detailing, which makes it easier to build, easier to live in, and more likely to survive the next disaster.

The proposed building rationalizes the previous footprint into a simple singular rectangle. The floor plan is organized around a straightforward, efficient layout. By preserving the existing driveway location and positioning the garage in the northwest corner of the site, we were able to anchor the diagram and establish a clear structural rhythm. The garage’s 22’-6” depth sets a consistent line of shear walls that run north to south, forming the spine of the house.

The rebuild also offers greater privacy and safety through appropriate separation from neighboring structures—an essential consideration in a fire-prone hillside neighborhood.

—Front Elevation from Anoka Drive & Fire-resistant Strategies (2)

Open Living

The home's interior emphasizes openness and calm. Transparency is key: a window at the end of the hall, a glass kitchen door, and bedroom openings aligned with doors ensure deep daylight penetration and visual connection to the outdoors.

Secondary en-suite bedrooms are located on the east side of the home, while the main living areas open to the west, taking advantage of light and views. The primary bedroom suite is situated at the south end of the plan, with the bedroom oriented towards the patio and framed views of the Pacific Ocean and access to the patio.

To further support natural lighting, a continuous clerestory window runs north to south across the living area, introducing diffuse, indirect light that softens the space and reduces glare. In the rear yard, a freestanding metal canopy provides shade and thermal relief during summer months, creating a usable outdoor room without compromising the fire-resilient approach.

This is a home that protects without isolating—an interior sanctuary shaped by thoughtful design. For the client, raised here by adoptive parents, the site carries profound meaning. The original home stood for over 50 years; the new one will carry that legacy forward.