Concept study

La Cañada Residence

A Mediterranean villa over a full lower level on a level acre and a quarter in La Cañada Flintridge, drawn and rendered by Akopi Builders as a study.

Concept design. The images on this page are renderings, not photographs of a built home.

Rendering of a pair of dark iron gates between cream plaster piers at the end of a paved drive, a cream Mediterranean villa with red tile roofs beyond under large live oaks, mountains behind.
Arrival: the iron gates under the old oaks, the house beyond.
Lot
54,000 sq ft, 150 x 360 ft
Counted floor and roofed area
9,986 sq ft, held under 10,000
House, three levels
12,424 sq ft
Bedrooms
5, plus an 800 sq ft guest house
Front door from the street
162 ft
Ridge
31 ft 10 in, limit 32 ft

Akopi Builders drew the house for an imagined level lot in La Cañada Flintridge, inside the city's real rules for size, height, setbacks and oak trees. A gate, a long drive and a court round a live oak lead to the door. It has a plan set, one model behind every image, and every room finished on paper. We made it to show how we think before we build. Look at the images first. Then open the plans.

Twenty two views in the order you would arrive and walk the house, by day and in the evening.

Rendering looking through open dark iron gates along a paved drive bordered by lawn and hedges, toward red tile roofs and a low arcade under oaks.
Through the gates, the drive runs on toward the oak court.
Rendering of a gravel court with one great spreading live oak in a round planted bed, a two story cream house with shuttered windows and three loggia arches beside it.
The oak court, held by the house round a live oak.
Rendering of a symmetrical two story cream villa with a red tile hipped roof and five arches across the ground floor, reflected in a long dark pool between clipped hedges.
The garden front across the pool and the five loggia arches.
Rendering looking down a long dark pool between hedges to a small arched pool house with a red tile roof, olive trees and a guest house at the left, mountains behind.
Down the pool to the pool house, guest house at left.
Rendering of a small powder room lined in yellow and green hand painted tile with a blue border, a round blue mirror, two copper lanterns and a stone basin.
Powder room 3, in the pool house: hand painted majolica tile.
Rendering of a vaulted cream plaster entry hall with a dark iron lantern hanging from each vault, a pale terrazzo floor and walnut benches, the living room seen through an arch ahead.
Entry hall: three plaster cross vaults, iron lanterns, terrazzo.
Rendering of a straight stone stair with black iron balusters and a walnut rail rising along a cream plaster wall, walnut paneling beneath it and an arched window at the landing.
The stone stair rises along the wall to the landing window.
Rendering of a living room under a dark walnut coffered ceiling, rose velvet sofas and armchairs round a low table, a gray stone fireplace and tall arched French doors.
Living room: walnut coffers and a carved pietra serena fireplace.
Rendering of a dining room with a long walnut table and ochre upholstered chairs under a walnut coffered ceiling, tall arched windows on the right, brass wall lights.
Dining room: walnut coffers, arched windows to the oak court.
Rendering of a vaulted kitchen with a white and violet veined marble island on a walnut base, leather topped stools, a gray stone range surround under a plaster hood and arched windows.
Kitchen: a Calacatta Viola island, the range in pietra serena.
Rendering of a powder room painted with a garden fresco of trees and arches, an arched mirror, two glass flower wall lights and a carved pale stone basin, a real window at the left.
Powder room 1: a painted garden, the real window one arch.
Rendering of a pale bedroom with a lit cove ceiling, a carved walnut bed, two walnut armchairs by a gray stone fireplace and the bath seen through a door.
Primary bedroom: a walnut bed and the smaller stone fireplace.
Rendering of a bath with a wall of golden yellow marble veined in violet behind two arched mirrors and twin basins, a walnut door, and the bedroom fireplace beyond.
Primary bath: book matched Giallo Siena marble behind the basins.
Rendering of a small dark powder room with polished aubergine walls inlaid with ivory and gold scrolls and a key border, a round walnut mirror, crystal wall lights and a black marble top.
Powder room 2, lower level: polished aubergine scagliola, inlaid.
Rendering of a vaulted cream wellness room lit by round glass lenses in the ceiling, a stone basin fountain in the middle, a stone lounger and an inlaid stone floor.
Warm room: a stone fountain under the vault's glass lenses.
Rendering of a narrow vaulted room with a deep blue mosaic lined plunge pool and brass handrails, a glass door at the far end.
Cold plunge, mosaic lined, under a plaster vault.
Rendering of the stone stair with black iron balusters in the evening, lit by table lamps, the arched landing window dark.
The stair hall in the evening, lamps lit.
Rendering of the living room in the evening, the walnut coffered ceiling, rose sofas and stone fireplace lit by table lamps and a ring chandelier.
Living room in the evening, lamp lit.
Rendering of the vaulted kitchen at dusk, two iron lanterns lit over the marble island, a lit strip along the vault and the arched windows dark blue.
The kitchen at dusk, the lanterns over the island lit.
Rendering looking down a long dark still pool between pale stone walks and lit hedges at dusk to a small arched pool house glowing warm, a white sycamore at the right, mountains against a violet sky.
Down the pool to the pool house at dusk, arches lit.
Rendering of the symmetrical cream villa at dusk, its five loggia arches and upper windows lit warm, mirrored in a long dark still pool between clipped hedges under a violet sky.
The garden front at dusk, the five loggia arches lit.

Plans

A client should notice that the rooms were planned before they were pictured. An architect should notice the floor and roofed area held under 10,000 sq ft, the lower level in section with its shoring, the ridge under the 32 ft limit, and a court built round the oak instead of over its roots.

  1. P2 Site plan, the whole lot

    The 150 by 360 ft lot, level, the street at the south. A gate 20 ft in from the lot line, a drive round the oaks, the house 162 ft back, the pool garden and the guest house behind it.

    Page P2: Site plan, the whole lot. Concept drawing, not for construction.

  2. P5 The oak court

    An 80 by 54 ft court held by the house on three sides, with the live oak left standing in the middle. Gravel under its crown, no paving and no digging.

    Page P5: The oak court. Concept drawing, not for construction.

  3. P6 Ground floor

    A two story center on the axis, one story wings on the garden, the library wing and the garage wing round the court. One axis runs from the front door through the entry hall and the living room to the pool.

    Page P6: Ground floor. Concept drawing, not for construction.

  4. P11 Upper floor

    Over the two story center only: the primary suite across the east end, three more bedrooms with their own baths, and a gallery round the open stair well.

    Page P11: Upper floor. Concept drawing, not for construction.

  5. P14 Lower level

    4,320 sq ft fully below grade, so the city does not count it: wine and tasting, a theater, a lounge with a bar, a gym and the warm room, sauna, steam room and cold plunge. Light wells on the garden side.

    Page P14: Lower level. Concept drawing, not for construction.

  6. P20 Court elevation

    The front seen from the oak court, the 32 ft height limit drawn over it. The ridge stands at 31 ft 10 in. Arched openings below, smaller windows above.

    Page P20: Court elevation. Concept drawing, not for construction.

  7. P21 Garden elevation

    The two story center between two equal one story wings, and the five arches of the garden loggia across the middle.

    Page P21: Garden elevation. Concept drawing, not for construction.

  8. P30 Roof plan

    Every roof hipped in red clay barrel tile, with no gable and no flat roof. Under 4 in 12, so the tile sits on two layers of underlayment and a mineral surfaced cap sheet, closed at the eaves against embers.

    Page P30: Roof plan. Concept drawing, not for construction.

  9. P31 Section, street to garden

    Cut through the court, the entry hall, the living room and the lower level 13 ft below grade. The shoring stands 2 ft outside the lower walls, round the whole dig.

    Page P31: Section, street to garden. Concept drawing, not for construction.

Nine of the 102 pages are shown. The full set also has each floor zone by zone, the two other elevations, a second section, the eave and one bay drawn close, the gate, the living room fireplace, the materials, the kitchen and its four walls, every bath, powder room and spa room, and the lighting, sound, air and curtain plans with their schedules. It is available on request.

Selected pages, PDF 9 pages, 316 KB

Materials

  • Lime plaster, warm white

    Every outside wall of the house, the wings, the pool house and the guest house

  • Cast stone, honed ivory

    Base course, string course, every surround and sill, the loggia columns and arches, the gate pier caps

  • Red clay barrel tile, two piece

    Every roof, all hipped

  • One dark accent: umber

    Every door leaf, shutter, garage door, window sash, and the gate, fence and rails

  • Copper

    Half round gutters and round downspouts, the gate lanterns

  • Porphyry setts and gold gravel

    The drive and the oak court

  • Venetian terrazzo, poured and polished

    The floors of the main rooms, honed for grip in the wet rooms

  • Walnut, oiled, quarter sawn

    Inside doors, joinery, the kitchen base and armoire, the front door

  • Pietra serena, honed

    The two carved chimneypieces and the range surround

  • Painted and stenciled wood ceilings

    Beams and boards in the main rooms

  • Calacatta Viola marble, honed

    The kitchen island

  • Unlacquered brass, with polished nickel at water

    Door hardware and fittings; nickel in the baths and work rooms

What it takes to build here

General points, true of a new house on a large single family lot in La Cañada Flintridge. None of this is legal advice, and a real project starts with the City and the project's own consultants.

  1. Every roof counts.

    On a lot over 15,000 sq ft the cap is 4,750 sq ft plus 20 percent of the lot over 15,000, and it counts every solid roof, enclosed or not: the house, the garage, the loggias and the pool house. On this 54,000 sq ft lot that is 12,550 sq ft.

  2. 10,000 sq ft is a line.

    Above 10,000 sq ft of floor and roofed area a project needs a conditional use permit at a Planning Commission hearing. This study holds 9,986 and leaves the rest of the cap unused on purpose.

  3. Below grade is free only when it is truly below.

    A level counts as a basement only when its walls and floor are below the ground around it, except for six inches of wall. Then it is not counted. Light wells need the director's approval. This study's lower level is 4,320 sq ft.

  4. A second story goes to the Planning Commission.

    Any new two story house is heard at second floor review, against the City's Residential Design Guidelines: setbacks, modulation, the neighbors' privacy and views. Story poles go up before the hearing.

  5. The roof is measured from the lowest point.

    On lots this size the limit is 32 ft, measured from the lowest point where the house meets the ground to its highest point. Chimneys are exempt only as far as the building code needs. This study's ridge stands at 31 ft 10 in.

  6. The street looks through iron.

    Front fences of 42 in are allowed by right. Taller gates, up to 8 ft 6 in, must be mostly open work, and a drive gate stands at least 20 ft from the curb. At least half the front yard stays planted.

  7. Oaks and sycamores are protected.

    Native oaks and sycamores with a trunk of 12 in or more are protected. Building or digging near one needs the director's review and an arborist's report. This study keeps every tree and builds nothing under a crown.

  8. The whole city is a fire zone.

    La Cañada Flintridge sits in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, so a new house is built to the state's wildfire chapter: a Class A roof, ember resistant vents and eaves, tempered glass, and a fuel modification plan for the garden.

How the job would run

Schedule by phase

The phases, in order, for a house like this with a full lower level. Planning numbers for a concept, not a promise.

  1. 1 Preconstruction The drawings are read in full, conflicts are flagged, long lead items are listed and the job is priced. 12 weeks Before construction, beside the permits
  2. 2 Second floor review and permits The Planning Commission hearing, then building plan check with the soils report, the shoring plan, the arborist's report, fire review and the haul route plan. 48 weeks Before construction, set by the City
  3. 3 Demolition and site preparation Fencing and tree protection round every oak, utilities cut and capped, removal of any existing house. 6 weeks Weeks 1 to 6
  4. 4 Shoring, excavation and hauling Shoring round the dig for the lower level and its light wells, then the soil hauled out on the route and the days the City approves. 8 weeks Weeks 5 to 12
  5. 5 Lower level structure and waterproofing Footings, waterproofing below grade, concrete walls and slab, the drain at the foot of the walls, the ground floor deck, then backfill. 14 weeks Weeks 11 to 24
  6. 6 Structure Framing of the two story center, the four wings and the roofs, the loggias, the garage, the pool house and the guest house. 18 weeks Weeks 23 to 40
  7. 7 Envelope Clay tile roofs, wood windows and French doors until the house is dry, then the cast stone surrounds and the three coat plaster on every face. 30 weeks Weeks 37 to 66
  8. 8 Rough systems Plumbing, air, electrical, the elevator, lighting control and audio, all before any wall or ceiling closes. 22 weeks Weeks 41 to 62
  9. 9 Interior finishes Plaster, poured terrazzo, painted ceilings, walnut doors and joinery, the stone stair, the kitchen, the wet rooms and the wellness rooms. 40 weeks Weeks 61 to 100
  10. 10 Pool, court and garden Pool and spa, the pool house and guest house fit out, the drive and the oak court, terraces, planting and the outdoor lights. 46 weeks Weeks 53 to 98
  11. 11 Commissioning and handover Every system is run and set, scenes are programmed, the punch list is closed and the manuals are handed over. 8 weeks Weeks 99 to 106

Phases overlap, so the weeks are for each phase and not a sum. Construction runs about 106 weeks from mobilization to handover.

Second floor review and permits come first and are counted apart, because the City sets that time and the builder does not.

The lower level sits under the two story center and the garden loggia, so its edges are held by shoring before the cut goes deep. The soils engineer watches the cut, the oaks stay fenced outside it, and the walls are waterproofed and drained before any soil goes back.

Budget structure

The cost categories, in the order they are built, as shares of the whole. Planning shares for a concept, not a price.

  1. Demolition, site work and utilities 3%
  2. Shoring, excavation and hauling 4%
  3. Lower level structure and waterproofing 8%
  4. Structure above grade 10%
  5. Envelope: clay tile roofs, plaster and cast stone, wood windows and doors 16%
  6. Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and the elevator 11%
  7. Lighting, controls, theater and audio visual 4%
  8. Interior finishes: plaster, terrazzo, painted ceilings, the stone stair 13%
  9. Millwork, kitchen, stone and wet rooms 10%
  10. Pool, spa and wellness rooms 4%
  11. Pool house, guest house, drive, court, landscape and hardscape 8%
  12. General conditions 9%

This shows how the cost of a house like this is organized, as shares of the whole and with no dollar totals, because a total belongs to a real site and a real set of drawings.

The 100 percent is the hard cost of construction, with the builder's general conditions. The allowance for what the ground can turn up is carried inside the lines where that risk sits. It leaves out the land, design and engineering fees, permits and agency fees, furnishings and financing.

Sample weekly owner report

SAMPLE. This report is an example of the format. None of this work has happened.

La Cañada Residence, concept study. Owner report, Week 58.

Work completed this week

  • Two story center: clay tile finished on the north slopes, bird stops bedded at every eave.
  • Court front: cast stone surrounds set at the three loggia arches and the dining room windows.
  • Lower level: steam room and cold plunge roughed in for plumbing; steam room pan flood tested.
  • Upper floor: rough electrical in bedrooms 3 and 4 checked against the lighting plan before insulation.
  • Garden: the pool's shell steel tied, clear of Oak 2's crown as drawn.

Next two weeks

  • Kitchen wing: tile on the hipped roof, copper gutters hung.
  • Garden front: plaster brown coat, after the cast stone sills are set.
  • Pool: shell inspected, then the pour.

Decisions needed from the owner

  • Approve the plaster sample panel on the court front: the warm white, and how smooth the trowel finish is.
  • Approve the cast stone sample at the entry loggia: color and the honed face.
  • Choose between two terrazzo sample boards for the main rooms. Both are at the site office.

Selections due

  • Lanterns for the entry loggia.
  • Bath fittings in polished nickel for the upper baths.
  • Rugs for the living room and the library.

Changes

  • Sample change: a fireplace is added on the living room's west wall. Its flue leans into the wall between the stair gallery and bedroom 3, a steel beam carries it over the lower stair hall. The plan, the section and the roof plan were revised before the framer returned. In a real report the cost and the time effect of each change are stated here, and nothing proceeds until the owner signs.

Inspections

  • Passed: rough plumbing, lower level.
  • Passed: steam room pan flood test.
  • Scheduled: insulation, upper floor.

Photos

  • Everything about to be covered, before it is covered: in-wall plumbing at the lower level wet rooms, the steel under the chimney breast, and the tile underlayment at the valleys.
Quality checklist

Checks a careful builder runs. General practice, each one confirmed against the engineer's drawings or the product maker's instructions on a real job.

Below grade

  • The shoring is designed by the engineer and in place before the cut goes deep.
  • Protected trees are fenced at the line the arborist sets before any machine arrives.
  • The soils engineer looks at the bottom of the cut before any steel or concrete goes in.
  • One waterproofing system from one maker, on the walls and under the slab, as that maker requires.
  • Every pipe, tie and sleeve through the wall is sealed and photographed.
  • The drain at the foot of the walls and the light well drains are run with water before backfill.
  • Nothing is covered until the inspection is logged and signed.

Plaster and cast stone

  • A sample panel is built and approved before production: color, trowel finish and the joint with the stone.
  • Cast stone is made to shop drawings that line every surround up with its opening.
  • Flashing and weep screed at every sill and at the base course are drawn, not left to the field.
  • Each plaster coat cures for the time its maker specifies before the next goes on.
  • Sills, steps and arches are protected until the last trade has left.

Clay tile in a fire zone

  • Underlayment is what the tile maker and the code ask for at this pitch, under every tile.
  • Every open tile end at the eave is closed so embers cannot blow in.
  • Valleys get a wide strip of cap sheet under the metal.
  • Vents, if any, are listed as ember resistant; the soffits stay closed.
  • Gutters and downpipes are run with water before the scaffold comes down.

Two short reads

Planning a house in La Cañada Flintridge or anywhere in the foothills.

Send the drawings or call. Hovik reads the set before he prices it.

(818) 214-7500 akopibuilders.com/contact