whipple russell architects

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Modern Design for a Traditional Neighborhood

Many of our clients want their home to express who they are as unique beings, while at the same time they want to fit their home into the style of the community around them. Fitting into the environment is good for neighborhood relationships, good for supporting everyone's property values, and is a fundamental of good design. But so is designing for the unique beings who live in the space.

On the way to our clients' Buckskin Drive property in Laguna Hills we didn't pass a single modern. But our clients were modernists at heart. The problem we had to solve was how to design so they could both fit in AND be different.

When we delved into their more detailed preferences we found our solution in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie School of Architecture. We blended the Prairie style of organic woods and brick, horizontal lines, and open floor plans on the inside, along with clean, more traditional lines on the outside.

Once again, when we listen carefully to our clients, it is amazing how often the solution presents itself.