THE SHARPE RESIDENCE AT LUCKY DOG RANCH

The Sharpe Residence represents one of Zoltan Pali’s first architectural projects as a young architect – and also his latest. In 1987 Zoltan’s friend and colleague, Steve Sharpe, purchased 20 acres of land in Somis, a small community embedded in the hills of Ventura County. Steve asked Zoltan to design a house for him – and at the time, thought he wanted a Georgian style home. With postmodernism all the rage, a young Zoltan Pali did his best to accommodate one of his first client’s wishes in the vernacular of the day. The resulting design centered around a modernized, domed grand entry ballroom with simplified white columns, the whole nine yards – a somewhat classical design with significant postmodernist influence. “It was something like Richard Meier meets Robert Stern,” reflected Zoltan on the project. “It was bad…really bad. As one of my first projects, I really tried to give the client what he wanted, yet attempt to achieve some level of purity.”

However, due to a combination of economic downturns and construction stops and starts, the project never moved past the land excavation stage…and over the course of the next six years, Zoltan’s own architectural sensibilities matured. His natural, rigorous modernist tendencies became more fine-tuned, and so did his ability to convince clients of his architectural vision. Of his own volition, Zoltan continued to tweak the Sharpe Residence design – both to hone his own skills, and in the hope that one day his friend and client would resume the project. One day in 1993, the opportunity appeared on the horizon, and Zoltan presented his newly refined concept to the client. The “new” Sharpe Residence concept maintained only a hint of the old circular ballroom – this time in the form of two arced walls, flanking the still fairly traditional axial entry.

Zoltan organized the house according to the rigorous spacing of the lemon grove on the property. The 14-foot spacing of the trees, when quartered, gave the architect a 3’ 6” grid upon which to align the meaningful dimensions in the home. Walls, structure, and even the screed lines in the stucco were organized at half that distance, spaced 7’ on center, and all windows, doors, and other internal components neatly fit into the 3’ 6” module. The house became a modern version of a ranch house, facing the land while protecting the hill-facing bowl to its rear. Zoltan designed one of the L-shaped home’s linear volumes primarily for the family’s use, and the other for guest and staff use. The family wing, or East wing, which possesses a separate locked entry to close it off in the event that the family is away, contains the master suite, the home’s main kitchen, living, and dining areas. The East wing also accesses the basement level, home to another bedroom/bathroom combination, 3-car parking garage, laundry facilities, wine cellar, and prep kitchen with dumbwaiter. The master bedroom, located in the farthest edge of this volume, exits to a private outdoor courtyard and fireplace that backs up to the hillside. From the private patio, one can see both the lemon grove-lined entry, and the home’s private yard.

The other volume, or West wing of the house contains 4 separate bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, a separate multi-purpose television and activity parlor. The parlor is furnished with a small kitchenette and bar, so as to provide guests with multiple amenities in close proximity to their quarters. This volume culminates with an outdoor fireplace at the end of a long, narrow pool, touching the northernmost portion of the hillside. “Steve always wanted to create a place where he could invite close friends to stay for a long weekend and enjoy respite from the city with his family,” explained Zoltan. “The West wing gives the family flexibility to have people come and stay for extended periods of time, while maintaining a level of privacy for everyone.”

Where the two volumes of the house meet, a field room, public entry and living room converge. The public entry – a vestige of the original design’s ballroom – features higher ceilings and concrete floors. Otherwise the home has wood floors throughout. This is the portion of the house that still troubles Zoltan. “It still seems a bit grandiose, reaching for ‘curb appeal,’” said the architect. “That is a notion that I completely shy away from in my present design work.”

The Sharpe Residence is skinned in smooth-troweled stucco, with floor to ceiling fenestrations throughout. Raised clerestories in the center of the roof fill the home with natural light during the day, and the many operable windows around the home’s perimeter allow it to breathe the fresh farm air.

Zoltan detailed the home’s two curved walls with a ribbed metal siding, to evoke the traditional agricultural water towers of the region. The final material was modified in the final construction by the client, now clad in Rheinzinc®, a non-oxidizing metal panel in a running bond pattern.

By the end of the 1990’s, Sharpe was ready to move forward with construction, and was convinced to pursue the modern ranch house design. In 1999, he completed the excavation of the land, poured the home’s footings, and purchased an adjacent 20-acre parcel of land – one that eventually became the site for SPF:a’s AIA National Honor Award-winning Somis Hay Barn. The barn preceded the house by almost two years.

Sharpe continued with a methodical and deliberate building schedule on the house, managing construction in between his own projects as a drywall contractor. By 2004, the stars aligned – the house was finally coming together; and now, almost 20 years after his initial engagement on the project, Zoltan heaves a sigh of joy in its completion.

Sharpe continued with a methodical and deliberate building schedule on the house, managing construction in between his own projects as a drywall contractor. By 2004, the stars aligned – the house was finally coming together; and now, almost 20 years after his initial engagement on the project, Zoltan heaves a sigh of joy in its completion.

“Steve and I have been through a lot together,” said Zoltan, “I, as a young architect – trying to come of age, and experiencing tremendous other projects along the way – to the point at times of nearly forgetting Steve’s house. Seeing the house completed now is almost like finding a little treasure that was given to you years ago, that you were certain you had lost. The project really represents what architecture is to those of us who try to practice it at a high level – nothing but struggle, full of ups and downs, successes and failures. Steve as a client has also come of age, and has become a true student of architecture.”