Local architect designs a Brookside ‘Bridge House’
BRIDGE HOUSE was designed to allow expansive exterior views to permeate every part of the structure.
Longwood Ave. resident Dan Brunn has designed, and recently began construction on, a one-of-a-kind “Bridge House” to straddle the much-loved brook in Brookside.
The 210-foot-long, 20-foot wide, single-story house, quite literally bridges a running stream and a 20-foot change in property grade.
“I am really excited about this house,” Brunn tells the Chronicle. “The idea is to do something extraordinary.”
It all started about four years ago when Brunn moved to Brookside, where he bought and renovated a property on the west side of Longwood Ave. “One of my neighbors invited me over one day to check out their garden. ‘It’s a little secret, but it’s amazing,’ they told me.” Brunn says it was the first time he realized that there was a real stream flowing in the neighborhood.
A few months later, Brunn says he noticed that a house on the east side of Longwood Ave. looked vacant. He befriended the property’s caretaker and learned that he might have the chance to purchase the property.
“My first thought was to renovate the house to enjoy the back yard,” he explains.
After a trip to Rhode Island, where Brunn says he took note of large, “classic” homes with impressive carports, followed by a serendipitous meeting with representatives from a patented lightweight steel frame building technology business (Bone Structure), Brunn started thinking.
“I came back to Los Angeles and redid the whole design.”
No stranger to design, Brunn is the principal architect of Dan Brunn Architecture. As an undergraduate, he studied at USC, and earned his master’s degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.
Since 2005, his firm has worked to develop commercial and residential properties, specializing in reinterpreting Modernist principles in designs for living, shopping and dining.
Known for a signature minimalist aesthetic, Brunn stresses that modern design doesn’t have to equal big, white boxes: “I want to show critics of modern design that you can design projects that fit perfectly with their surroundings.”
In fact, Brunn hopes the Bridge House will show critics that modern design can fit seamlessly in the midst of nature. The exterior materials of the house will be wood cladding, and floor-to-ceiling window-walls with expansive exterior views celebrate the landscape and existing trees.
“Nature is a really important part of this project. One of the beautiful things about Los Angeles is the relationship between indoor and outdoor living. The Bridge House will celebrate that relationship,” he says.
According to Brunn, the project’s foundation was finished in April, and the assembly of a steel-frame structure will begin this month. “I am hoping the project will be finished by the end of summer,” he says.
By Billy Taylor
Category: News
