The Burke’s house is on a very narrow lot on a walk street in Manhattan Beach. The client needed four bedrooms, a family room, living room and plenty of connection to the walk street, which serves as a great neighborhood hangout for the many parents with young children that live on it. The community life is rich here, and the challenge was to make a house both welcoming and private. The result in this 24-foot wide, 3400 SF house is a ground level space easily accessible from back, front, and sides.

Sitting areas in front give it good walk-street interaction. Its Dutch-style front door can say: “Lean your head in and holler,” “We are not available,” or “Come on in” just by the way it is opened. The house is arranged on three levels. The first floor is the living and kitchen area. The second level is bedrooms with the third level containing a family room with bar, a guest room and an outdoor roof deck with a fireplace where one can get an ocean view.