Gehry Residence in Santa Monica, California, renovated between 1977 and 1978, is a seminal work of deconstructivist architecture where Frank Gehry wrapped a new, industrial house around an existing 1920s suburban Dutch Colonial bungalow
. The floor plan is a deliberate explosion of traditional spatial layout, designed to keep the original house intact within a raw, fragmented exterior. HIC Arquitectura Key Features of the Gehry Residence Floor Plan House-within-a-House Concept:
The original house remains structurally present, with its exterior walls often visible inside the new envelope. Deconstructed Flow:
Standard room divisions are broken down. The design connects spaces, with the old house acting as a central "room" surrounded by new additions. Raw Materials & Visibility:
The plan highlights the process of construction, with exposed wood framing, plywood walls, chain-link, and corrugated metal. Transition Zones:
The boundary between inside and outside is blurred, featuring patio-like interior spaces, large windows, and unexpected gaps that create a "perpetually under construction" feel. LA Conservancy Floor Layout Analysis Ground Floor:
Features an open-plan kitchen and dining area with asphalt flooring, which connects to the outdoor spaces, creating a dramatic, non-traditional interior landscape. The original "pink" house remains on the ground floor. Upper Floor:
Includes the master bedroom, a second bedroom, and a large attic-like "treehouse" space created by removing ceilings and exposing the wood structure. gehry residence floor plan
The main entrance is designed to be confusing, navigating through both the new industrial envelope and the original residential front door. Design Intent and Impact Deconstructivism:
The project brought worldwide attention to the deconstructivist movement, prioritizing artistic intuition, unresolved accidents, and fragmented forms. Laboratory Concept:
Gehry treated his own home as a "laboratory," using cheap, everyday materials to challenge suburban norms and creating "disturbing" yet satisfying spaces. Industrial Aesthetics:
The "high-tech" materials like corrugated metal and wire-glass cubes—especially the kitchen cube—create a unique play of light, letting in natural light while maintaining privacy. For a visual understanding of the layout, refer to the Gehry Residence Floor Plan via ArchDaily. Gehry House - Data, Photos & Plans - WikiArquitectura
Gehry Residence in Santa Monica, California, is a landmark of Deconstructivism
where Frank Gehry transformed a 1920s Dutch Colonial bungalow into a "laboratory" of architectural experimentation. Completed primarily in 1978, the floor plan is defined by the "wrapping"
of the original structure with a new, aggressive envelope of industrial materials like corrugated metal, chain-link fencing, and plywood. Ground Floor Layout The ground floor exemplifies Gehry’s concept of Part 2: The Vertical Circulation – The "Silo"
, where the new additions literally surround and intersect the old house. The Original Core
: The interior of the pink bungalow remains largely intact, though "edited". In some areas, plaster was stripped to reveal the raw redwood framing The New Perimeter : New spaces—the kitchen, dining area, and breakfast area
—were added as a wrap-around extension on the north and west sides. The "Asphalt" Kitchen
: The kitchen was built directly over the existing driveway, famously retaining the original asphalt floor to emphasize the building as an "addition" to the site. Tilted Glass Cubes
: Distinctive skylights and glass structures "poke" through the original exterior, flooding the kitchen and dining areas with light. Upper Floor and Private Spaces
The second level focuses on privacy while maintaining the experimental theme of exposed materials. The First Frank Gehry House in Santa Monica - ArchEyes
Gehry Residence in Santa Monica, California, is one of the most significant works of deconstructivist architecture he wrapped a modest
. Rather than tearing down the existing 1920s Dutch Colonial bungalow, Frank Gehry chose to wrap it in a new, unconventional shell, creating a complex dialogue between the old and the new. The Ground Floor Layout
The ground floor is characterized by the juxtaposition of the original house's structure and the new, expansive additions. The First Frank Gehry House in Santa Monica - ArchEyes
The most unique element of the Gehry Residence floor plan is the circulation core. Traditional houses hide the stairs. Gehry puts them front and center.
In the plan, you will find a chain-link cage wrapped around a raw wooden staircase. This "silo" is located near the center of the old house. As you move from the ground floor to the upper floor, the staircase cuts through the existing roof trusses.
What is remarkable is the floor plan's negative space. Gehry cut a massive hole in the second floor to allow the chain-link cage to rise two stories. This creates a visual vertical connection rarely seen in residential architecture. From the second floor landing, you can look down into the ground floor kitchen. The floor plan thus prioritizes voyeurism and overlapping vistas over privacy.
To understand the floor plan, one must understand the existing structure. Gehry did not build a house from scratch; he wrapped a modest, existing 1920s Dutch Colonial bungalow. The floor plan reveals a "house-within-a-house" concept.
The original bungalow remained largely intact in terms of footprint, but Gehry stripped away its siding to expose the framing. He then surrounded this core with angular volumes of glass, metal, and wire. On the floor plan, this creates a fascinating dichotomy between the "old" spaces (the traditional rooms of the original house) and the "new" spaces (the interstitial zones created by the outer shell).
Completed in 1978 in Santa Monica, California, the Gehry Residence is widely considered the seminal work that launched Frank Gehry’s career as a deconstructivist architect. While the exterior—with its exposed studs, chain-link fences, and corrugated metal—shocks the viewer with its unfinished aesthetic, the floor plan is where the true architectural innovation lies. It represents a radical rethinking of how domestic space can be organized, merging the traditional "American Dream" home with an avant-garde industrial sensibility.