American studio Unfold Projects has renovated a modernist home in Encinitas, California, that will serve as a base for an artist residency program.
Defined by soaring arched roofs, the 1970s property was originally designed by Shanna Kellogg with structural collaboration from her father, renowned California architect Kendrick Bangs Kellogg.
Unfold Projects founder and creative director Mel Meagher purchased the home in 2022, with the aim of restoring many of its original features while also future-proofing the building.
"The vision was to bring it back to what it had been, but also to reconnect it to its environment and allow reinterpretation through regional artists," said Meagher.
A variety of contemporary craftspeople and artists – many from the Unfold Guild regional network – were commissioned to help bring the 2,500-square-foot (232-square-metre) house back to life.
"We focused on collaborators with deep knowledge and expertise in their respective areas of practice," said Unfold Projects director of art Stacy Kelley.
"We started with artists we already knew were aligned with Unfold's ethos and were excited to honor the project's craftsmanship, while creating meaningful new contributions."
The three-bedroom residence had undergone several interventions over the years, and the intent was to return as much as possible to the original design.
"Removing newer introductions – such as built-in bookcases and layers of paint that obscured the home's original textures and sightlines – has opened the house back up as the light-filled, organic oasis it was meant to be," said the team.
With the addition of a new copper roof, offcuts were repurposed into 21 pieces of art and furniture for the home.
Other pieces including sculpture, lighting, rain chains and a guitar made from salvaged redwood were all created using elements taken apart during the renovation.
Meanwhile, remaining deconstructed materials were donated to non-profit organisation Habitat for Humanity for reuse.
For the interiors, Unfold Projects worked with Briana Ellis of Ritual Architecture and Megan Heacock White of House of Heacock to restore and modernise the spaces using natural materials such as teak, clay and limestone.
Much of the original wood was restored, while Kellog's vision for a tree-filled atrium in the primary bathroom is manifested as a living wall.
Adjacent to the main house, the Artist Flat that was once the original builder's woodshop will begin hosting artists and designers as part of the biannual Unfold Artist Residency.
The program will invite artists, designers, writers, chefs, researchers, ecologists and craftspeople to "deepen their creative practice in whatever form it takes" and allow them to explore "radical approaches to circularity and regenerative processes".
California's impressive stock of mid-century properties along its coastline is receiving care and attention from a new generation of architects.
In Big Sur, Electric Bowery renovated a redwood-clad home designed by Mickey Muenning, while in LA, OWIU Design has restored a glass-wrapped residence by SCI-Arc co-founder Ray Kappe.
The photography is by Justin Chung.