PROJECT NAME

Blacker House Cabana

LOCATION

Pasadena, CA

CLIENT

Private Residence

PROJECT TEAM

Chris Noble - General Contractor

WJ Landscape Cos. - Landscape Contractor

Anthony Archer-Wills - Water Garden Design

TYPE

ADU

SIZE

329 SF

YEAR COMPLETED

2023

The Cabana is part of a larger project to restore the original vision of the Greene & Greene Blacker House site design and sits adjacent to their new natural pond and swimming pool designed by Isabelle Greene. The cabana is the entertainment pavilion at the far side of the pond which started its life as a guest house for a neighboring property, but has been transformed into the Blacker House Pool Cabana. Differentiated from the iconic Blacker House in its material and form, the cabana’s intent is to serve as a bath house with showers, storage, changing rooms and a kitchen which is going to be used for service and catering dinners and events adjacent to the pool.

Its cottage style with vertical board and batten siding and shake roof are meant to give it a sense of place within the property. The huge boulders that are placed outside are an extension of the design of the pond and indicative of the natural environment in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. The flagstone from the pool is integrated into the flooring of the building, connecting it to the site and the boulders serve as a screen for an outdoor shower. The trees are carefully placed and merged into the landscape to provide the perfect amount of shade and screening.

Green Technology: Automated screened awnings in the cupola providing natural ventilation; high mass flooring to retain night time temperatures for natural cooling; new glazing and insulation to provide improved thermal performance; reuse of existing building for new purpose.

Photos by Lisa Romerein Photography