Gallery House

Fair Oaks, California

The Gallery House is a 2,200 sq.ft. modern home in the suburbs of Sacramento with a playful sculptural exterior and a warm interior. One of the main elements of the design was to allow our clients to display their growing collection of art, both inside and out.

The building's basic form is a gable that has been split and then slid apart to create the central spine of the home. On the interior, this spine serves as a gallery to showcase artwork. The gallery space is the divider between public and private spaces. With the limited construction budget for the project, but the Owner's desire for some dedicated art space, our goal was to eliminate the typical hallway which "eats up" square footage. While the gallery space serves as the main circulation route, it also becomes flex space enabling the dining and living areas to expand to accommodate larger gatherings. To highlight the artwork, we positioned the building on the land to capture the northern light. The roof was shaped to create an angled ceiling plane to reflect the incoming natural light down onto the lower display wall surface.

When selecting materials for this project, our solutions for the interior and the exterior were driven by the building's overall program - to showcase artwork. The first view of the house portrays its boldness as it greets visitors with blue and yellow plastered walls juxtaposed to corrugated metal roofing and siding, and steel trellis elements. The house is the art.

Upon entry, however, the role of the architecture recedes. In contrast to the intensity of the exterior material and color palette, the interior is very subdued in its tones. The decision to select more natural subtle materials was deliberate. It showcases the artwork and creates a sense of warmth within this modern home.

Contractor: Larry McClure Construction
Photographer: Dave Adams Photography