Steel Book PDF

@steel_book 020 8/9/04 5:14 PM Page 80
88
3 STEEL HOUSES CHAPTER NAME
88
House and Studio at Toro Canyon

Montecito, California
Design/Completion 1997/1999
Barton and Vicki Myers
40 acre mountain site
Family residence of 6,000 square feet in 4
structures; garage, guest house, main
residence, and studio/archive
Glass, steel, concrete, aluminum, water
The House at Toro Canyon is a residence sited in

a secluded mountain canyon in Montecito, with
panoramic views of the ocean and the Channel
Islands to the south and mountain peaks to the
HOUSE AND
STUDIO AT
TORO CANYON,
Montecito
An interview with Barton Myers by Suzanne Myers
north. A creek runs the length of the site, through

native oaks and rich ochre sandstone, forming a
serene Southern California landscape. The siting

strategy was to make a series of smaller, discrete
Q: Can you talk about finding the site and how you originally decided to build a house in
interventions, thus preserving and enhancing the
Santa Barbara?
natural landscape of the site.
Barton Myers: Vicki and I were very happy living in the Hollywood Hills. We had an
extraordinary, circa 1928 house there, with great views over Los Angeles and the Hollywood
To conserve the beauty of the landscape and save
Bowl. But I wanted to do something myself, something new. It seemed like the timing was
its trees, Myers...decided to put his studio at the
good, and Vicki was very supportive of the idea. We had originally thought about building
top of the steep slope, a guest house and garage
something in Hawaii and had gone through the whole process of trying to find land there,
below, and the main house on a level pad between.
but we started thinking about the fact that its seven hours over, and wed only get there a
Lofty steel-framed pavilions have roll-up segmented
couple of times a year, so it would have been a huge expenditure. Instead, we decided to
glass doors opening onto terraces and roll-down
look in Santa Barbara, a place we could really live and still work in Los Angeles. (Fig. 1) All of
shutters to provide security when the owners are
the houses I knew up here, particularly the George Washington Smith houses down in the
away, to protect from brush fires, and screen the
flats of Montecito, did a brilliant job of building walled gardens. When youre in one of these
sun. As an added safeguard and to insulate the
gardens, the hedges are so high that you have no idea theres anybody else around. You only
interiors from the heat of summer, each flat roof
see the mountains, or maybe a distant view of the ocean. We thought we would find one of
serves as a shallow pool, containing water that is
those kinds of sites, so I started thinking a lot about the idea of the wall and garden. I felt
re-circulated from uphill storage tanks. Nature
that a lot of the contemporary architects here were too caught up in object-making, that
conditions the air, and a lap pool runs along the
their buildings were very introverted, sculptural, and had lost the connection between
edge of the guest house roof. [Michael Webb, on
house and garden which is so special to California. The Modern movement was so influenced
the Myers House, in Brave New Houses: Adventures
by Japanese architecture. The Frank Lloyd Wright houses, Schindlers Kings Road house,
in Southern California Living (2003)]
had brilliant relationships to the outdoors. I was thinking of Mies van der Rohes Barcelona
Pavilion and how to do that again in a new way.

The House at Toro Canyon is an elegant warehouse
in the tradition of Eames and early Barton Myers
But the interesting sites tended to be high in the mountains, not in the flats where the
houses. It builds upon the Southern California
walled gardens were. (Fig. 2) When we found this site, I couldnt believe it hadnt sold. I was
tradition of seamless spatial integration of indoors
so knocked out by it. One thing that was special was that the building platforms, the level
and out and continues Barton Myers explorations in
areas, are so contained by the walls of the canyon and the creek that your garden walls are
steel housing in which industrial materials are used
basically the mountainsides. (Fig. 3) It switches the relationshipthe house becomes an
out of context; an emphasis first developed with the
object within the garden.
Wolf House, and the earlier Myers Residence in

Toronto. [Barton Myers: 3 Steel Houses, exhibition
Q: This site or area has particular concerns with fire risk. Was that something that you
press release, University Art Museum, University of
had encountered before?
California, Santa Barbara (2001)]
Barton Myers: Yes and no. Although Hollywood was a fire zone, it was not as dangerous as
Toro Canyon. The elements that make this canyon beautiful also have a negative side:
83
terrible threat of fire, erosion problems, unstable hills in many places, and earthquake.
Q: How did you decide where to site the pavilions?
These are real factors that you have to be very careful about. I approached the problem in a
Barton Myers: The site is relatively steepits probably a 2025 percent gradeand there
couple of ways. Since the Malibu and Laguna Beach fires, the codes have been tightened
had been two pads partially leveled. It became apparent that you couldnt do one big house
up. I had also heard about a UCLA thesis on building in fire zones, which turned out to be
structure. There is a height restriction here of 16 feet average from finished grade, so that
very helpful. So, between looking at the new county requirements and the work at UCLA,
meant you couldnt stack a two or three-story house up here. And then I was interested in
I had a good idea of what to do. First you have to reduce the amount of fuel. These canyons
the idea that you could distribute the buildings among the trees. Were in a forest of ancient
burn at about 3000 degrees. You need to clear enough to reduce the heat to around 7001000
oaks, but the oaks seem to have survived the earlier fires fairly well. The pavilion idea
degrees. Steel deforms at about 1400 degrees. Theres a catch-22 there, because as you clear,
if youre not careful you can get into huge water run-off and erosion problems. Secondly,
allowed me to set the houses within the oak trees, and not take any out. (Fig. 6)
4
you have to build out of non-combustible materials. You can use heavy timber. Wood is com-
I liked the idea of an Adirondack camp: you could have the main house, with the living
bustible, but heavy timber will burn and char, which kind of protects it. You have to have
room, dining room, kitchen and the bedrooms isolated in separate buildings. The Santa
sprinklers, and I even looked at having exterior sprinklers on the building, but found that
Barbara code wont allow you to do that exactly. You have to have a climate-controlled,
wasnt necessary. The codes encourage you to use highly reflective glass, but nobody wants
heated connection from the living room/dining room/kitchen to the bedroom. That seemed
to put mirror glass up here. Its just wrong for the area. The house has to have smoke
strange to me, because my favorite houses here are the old mission style homes, which had
detectors, with notification to the fire department. On the large sites, you need to store
wonderful courtyards and patios. You would go out of the living room along an open arcade
water for fire fighting. Those were the basic things. (Fig. 4)
to your bedroom.
So what I did was to take those ideas and try to incorporate them in a strong way. First, we
When we discovered this extraordinary site, the original idea of high walls and gardens sort
could reduce the fuel on the up-slope sides. We cant touch the creek because thats a
of vanished. Id been aware of Persian gardens, which had beautiful high pavilions within
natural preserve. We hired a landscape consultant and worked out techniques to protect
the garden, buildings which in the summer opened up, using big shade devices. I started
from fire and erosion at the same time. For instance, the trees are widely spaced, so they
thinking more about this as a model for objects within the garden.
dont burn like an orchard would. We used a lot of cactus, which stores water. We planted
hedges of vetiver, a sterile grass, which stabilizes the hillside.
On the lowest terrace, we put the garage and a detached guest house. (Fig. 7) It has a
reflecting pond and lap pool on its roof. The garage is the only building that doesnt have
On the houses I obviously used steel, and wherever there were glass openings, I introduced
the rolling insulated fire shutter. The doors are manually operated, because of the risk of
water on it, and I wanted to use that as a terrace on the next level for the main house. The
6
studio, which sits on the highest point of the site, is a library and workspace, officially an
power failure in a big fire. I can close the three structures in 2030 minutes.
archive building.
The other idea was the introduction of water. You have to have a roof that is non-
Q: The house feels very Japanese, even though the materials are primarily industrial.
combustible. So I decided to do something quite extraordinary and put water on the roofs.
How do those influences come in?
Obviously then theyre not going to burn, and they provide insulation. Theyre beautiful as
Barton Myers: The Japanese influences in the United States have primarily been in
reflecting ponds, but they also serve as water reservoirs. I was always concerned, because
California architecture, though certainly Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the great proponents
the house is sited so that you constantly look down at the roof of the other buildings. So
of Japanese work. On trips to Japan, Ive been particularly inspired by the zen gardens of
the water solved that from an aesthetic point of view. (Fig. 5)
Kyoto, the interrelationships between the indoor and outdoor.

7
84
3 STEEL HOUSES HOUSE AND STUDIO AT TORO CANYON, MONTECITO
85
California is also interesting because of the Spanish/Moorish influences. And the climate: we
Another thing Vicki and I decided to do to control the cost was to act as the contractor
are relatively bug-free in this part of the world, so without the mosquito problems you might
ourselves. I had a great cost estimator, so we had pretty good targets. We then could go
have in the east and south, we can keep the house open much of the time. Id say that we are
find local builders and hit all those targets. I hired a young contractor here who had no
open 75 percent of the time.
experience with this type of work, but would help me manage the site and could help find
some of the trades. This turned out to be a very successful strategy.
Q: What drew you back to the idea of a steel house for this?
Barton Myers: Id always had a love of steel. (Fig. 8) I dont know whether it was from the Navy
Q: So which of the elements are prefab?
or the Air Force. Obviously I had a terrific experience building our own house at Berryman.
The Wolf house had been very successful, as well as other steel buildings wed done. But Im
Barton Myers: All of the steel is in basically off-the-shelf standard shapes. You just order
8
the size that you want, and they cut it and weld it together. This is done in a plant, then
also interested in reinforced concrete, because I think in many ways its the new adobe of
shipped out, and assembled on site. All the doors are standard doors. We modified some of
California: the idea of the mass of the wall, versus the laciness, the lightness of steel. (Fig. 9)
the hardware on them. For instance, in most garages, if you look at the way the sectional
The play of those two is really great. I did a steel house studio with my students at UCLA,
door is done, the way the tracks are hung, its terrible. But by making my own brackets, and
and we started by doing a whole lot of research on the subject. When I say steel houses,
the chain holders and all of those things, I can transform what is a pretty sloppy industrial
I mean houses in which steel is the dominant material that you see, the major expression.
piece to a very beautiful industrial piece. (Fig. 12) The sliding doors are made by a wonderful
There are a lot of housesa lot of the Neutra houses for examplethat are steel, but theyre
local company. Theyre the highest doors that they would make, about a 12-foot slider. All
composite. The steel is not an architectural element. Even though the Crystal Palace of 1855
the bathroom fittings are simple fittings, off-the-shelf, as well as the hardware.
and the idea of cast iron and glass had affected the commercial world, its not until the 1920s
that architects really begin to discover steel for domestic use. The famous Chareau house,
12
9
Its basically catalogue housing. Toro Canyon is really stuff all out of the catalogue,
which we talked about earlier, is the temple of steel. Then you have Mies, Philip Johnson and
modified. A number of people have asked me if I would tell them where to find all these
so forth. Its a beautiful material and its extraordinarily precise, which is nice, particularly in
parts, so they can build this house themselves, and you can almost do that. (Fig. 13) The
this high, intense light where you get defined shadows. Another thing thats interesting today
exception being that somebody then has to engineer the steel and do the foundationsthe
is that its a green material, in that most of the steel that we use in North America is made
soil is going to be so different depending on where you are if youre in an earthquake zone;
from scrap metal, from automobiles. We make very little steel from ore now, so I like to think
this could almost be a catalogue house.
of my house as being made of Ferraris, Maseratis, Fords and Cadillacs...

Q: What was challenging about building on the site?
Barton Myers: It was very challenging because its hard to bring the steel up here. Theres a
Q: Had you used the idea of the rolling garage doors before?
Barton Myers: I had. Id been very interested in sectional doors and rolling garage doors.
10
narrow road coming up Toro Canyon, and an even narrower road up to the site. (Fig. 14) They
I was looking for ways that you can quickly transform space. In Canada, even though you
had to deliver the steel and then offload it to a smaller truck and bring it up here. We also
have a cold winter, the summers are gorgeous, so we did a lot of experimentation with large,
built during one of the wettest winters, so pouring the concrete was a real problem for us.
beautiful, sectional doors. I did a restaurant in Toronto that had huge aluminum doorsthey
You had to be careful not to create any erosion or water problems.
13
must have been 20 feet highthat slid vertically up the walls. It meant that the restaurant
became an instant sidewalk caf. So a lot of my projects have tried to incorporate them, but
The hardest construction detail was probably the concrete. But theyre all hard. The concrete
none as much as this house. This must be one of the largest sales of sectional doors and
was very, very difficult, because we didnt have a guy with a lot of experience with concrete
rolling shutters for a non-industrial project. There are 11 large sectional doors, and then there
finishes. And, because we werent here around the clock, there were sometimes things that
must be 20 rolling steel shutters. At the end of the studio, the whole wall rolls up into a drum.
we could have caught earlier. But the general effect is that its very precise, its very
(Fig. 10)
Its really quite an amazing device. Some of these doors weigh over 1000 pounds.
beautifully done. I think all architects probably are crazy about perfection, but you never
14
get it.
Q: Was it important to use as many off-the-shelf materials as possible?
Barton Myers: Yes, we were trying to do this house as inexpensively as possible, and I was
also trying to prove that I could do a house thats competitive to theI thinkterrible, fake
Tuscan architecture thats being built in this area. But you pay a penalty for building this kind
11
of house, because there are very few house builders who know how to do them. You really
need an industrial or commercial buildersomeone who knows how to pour concrete, how to
organize steeland thats more expensive. Traditionally built houses are going for as much as
$1000 per square foot. We needed to stay under $200 per square foot. Thats where off-theshelf materials can really help you. If you can work out an element and repeat it, then you get
a certain value out of it. It allows you to maintain the control. If youve got a hundred different
details, its very hard for a contractor to get all of them right, but if you have five or six details,
you can perfect and repeat (Fig. 11)
86
87
Q: How did the house change through the design process?
Q: From a distance when you look up the creek, the house disappears much more than
Barton Myers: The idea of the buildings, the three tiers, was there from the beginning.
any of the other houses up here. It sits very low.
I went through a whole series of options in the section: do you slope the roofs to follow the
Barton Myers: Everybody, whether this is their cup of tea or not, almost universally says
hillside? How do you step them? So, as you see in the section drawings, there are probably
how much they love the way its integrated into the landscape.
six or seven different ideas there. The idea of the modules stayed, but the refinement and
the development of those, I think, got better as we went along. The shifting of the garage to
Q: The landscaping is on a bigger scale and quite different from your other projects.
a parallelogram, to make the entrance a little more dramatic as you come up, happened in
Barton Myers: We were looking for somebody who could help us with the agriculture. We
the design phase. The only big change as we were under construction was that the wall at
the end of the archives/studio was going to be drywall and steel stud with plaster outside,
had enough land that we wanted to try planting some grapes, and we thought, if grapes
15
work, what about oranges, what about olives, and so on. We found a terrific guy named
and I was going to use it for hanging all my drawings. But, when I saw the site, I realized
Douglas Richardson, who seemed to have a real sense of what would work in these
I didnt want to lose the view, so then I changed it to a rolling insulated shutter. (Fig. 15)
canyons. So, Doug worked with Vicki and me on selection of plant material. There was a
19
natural terracing that we needed to do, so we began alternating olives, blood oranges,
Once I drew the section of the site, and we began to position the buildings on it, I realized
cacti and other fruit trees down them. (Fig. 18) Now, Vicki and I always disagree a little bit
by accident that one could line up the clerestories, and you could see right through two of
about order versus informality. As an architect I always like an ordered landscape. So
the three structures. We wanted the great ocean view, but also to look back into the
I think there's a nice play here between the order of the design and the informal order
mountains. The proportions of the high clerestories give you the panoramic view, so you
nature imposes.
feel like youre buried in the hill, but youre really not. (Fig. 16) When the studio has all its
doors open, and youre standing below, the only thing you see is the roof, floating.
When we were planning the landscape, we were concerned about the erosion control. Doug
had been very interested in vetiveria grass. Though its not a native plant, it does not seem
Q: Do you feel like you took a more environmental approach to this project, or was that
to be invasive, and its terrific for hillside stabilization. It makes an interesting hedge. It
just a factor of the conditions?
changes color, from green to kind of reddish in the winter, and it follows the contours of the
Barton Myers: This was my first Californian house. Vicki and I both felt that this was a very
landscape, so you get these rows of grass hedges that are undulating slightly like waves.
special piece of land, and we wanted to live in it in a most natural way, not try to transform
it into an English or an Italian garden. We wanted to do something that seemed to be more
Q: How are you different as an architect than you were 30 years ago, designing the
Californian, more agrarian, preserving as much of the beautiful landscape as possible.
previous steel houses, and how does that affect this house?
Barton Myers: You know, its interesting, I dont know if I can answer that. Berryman was so
urban, and my preoccupations were with building cities, changing cities and trying to make
Q: One thing thats very special about the house is the color palette. Can you describe its
development?
16
cities better. I was so focused for so long on that.
Barton Myers: The guidelines here, basically, are that the houses should disappear, which I
think is good: the idea is to use natural materials and colors that blend into the landscape.
In our first years in the air force, we lived in the country in England, so weve always loved
The green steel does not mimic the trees. Its a green of its own, but works with oaks and
the idea of rural life. And I guess every Virginian dreams of being Jefferson, and building his
the other plants we have here. When the steel arrived, it had been treated with a special
own farm. This is the first time Ive really had the chance to do something in this kind of
kind of green primer that is used on oil rigs to prevent rust. The buildings looked so great
environment.
green, we decided to go with that instead of the grays and khaki colors wed been
considering. (Fig. 17) The plaster inside is a skim coat and thats just a natural gray, and it
In terms of my attitude toward steel, I think the houses have all given me a lot of confidence.
turned out to be extraordinarily warm. We didnt color the floors, but the natural concrete is
Im not sure Ive advanced the technology. In fact, Im still using a lot of the same kind of
also very warm. And then, once you add your books and rugs and things, the quality seems
17
off-the-shelf technology. But, spatially theyre so different, mainly due to the climate and
much less industrial, more human than what you would imagine if you described the
the sites. Berryman was introverted. Wolf is floating out on the end of the site in a suburban
houses materials. The galvanized steel, which is matte, will age and become a pewter-like
situation. This is the first chance Ive had to work with a large piece of land.
charcoal gray. The only thing that will stay shiny is the aluminum. The surfaces are quite
I remember reading Aldo Leopold, who said that if you have a good understanding of the
muted and work very well together.
ecology, that you could walk out into the landscape and you would know its history and you
could suggest what to do to keep it in balance. (Fig. 19) I always applied that as an urbanist:
if I could walk into a city and understand its history, what phase its in, I would know what
to do to make it a better kind of city. I applied Leopolds idea to urban design, and, now I get
a chance to think about Leopold in the landscape.
18
88
89
PRESENTATION DRAWINGS
A
B
C
D
Studio
Main Residence
Guest House
Garage
32
A
D
B
C
64 ft
4
3
13
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
11
7
10
12
MAIN RESIDENCE
Terrace
Master Bedroom Terrace
Living / Dining
Kitchen
Garden
Master Bedroom
Master Bath
Dressing room
Guest Room
Utility Room
Guest Bath
Guest Room
Recirculating Tank
16
32
64 ft
1
2
3
4
SITE PLAN
Studio
Main Residence
Guest House
Garage
0
4
90
16 ft
1
2
3
4
Site plan
Site section
Site perspective
Main residence floor plan
91
water line
upward acting sectional door
waterproof membrane
roll-up door guide
foam insulation
steel chanel track support
conduit for building services
sectional door track

steel column
steel decking (steel to fascia)
light fixture
duplex receptacles
beam
column
roll-up hood
2"
4"
11
2"
4"
12
2
1
16 ft
10
92
1 Utility Room
2 Kitchen
3 Gallery
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Main residence longitudinal section

Main residence north elevation
Main residence south elevation
Main residence west elevation
Main residence east elevation
Main residence section
Section detail at roof edge
Plan view detail at steel columns
Detail of steel beam and column intersection
Detail of roll-up door tracks at column
13
14
93
SKETCHES AND
WORKING DRAWINGS
1 In this early site plan, the idea to terrace the buildings

was yet to come. Here, Myers considered dividing the
main residence into several buildings, with gardens
inserted between.
2 An early site elevation shows Myers planning a main
residence, a studio/archives building, and a ramped platform for cars.
3 In this early site plan, the garage is connected to the
main residence, while the studio/archives building has
been made part of the complex. However, the guest
house is not yet conceived.
4 The final site plan, with four buildings inserted into the
existing landscape.
58 Myers experimented with several roofing and door alternatives prior to final design; the ultimate selection was
chosen to exploit thermal insulation and passive solar
techniques, as well as for aesthetic purposes. The re-circulating pool atop three of the four buildings mirrors the
Pacific Ocean in the distance, as well as recalling the
trickle of the natural creek on site.
94
95
10
13
17
11
14
12
15
18
19
16
96
9 Once the building shape was determined, the matter of

fire protection and wall material still remained. Two
preliminary sketches show a section of the main
residence, as well as an exterior elevation, with the
bi-fold door option.
10 Myers studied many different door systems, this
particular one dependent on bi-folding doors that would
act as porch awnings when lifted. Clerestory windows
serve to augment the visibility to and from each building,
and to the exterior landscape.
11 This section of the main residence shows the
experimentation with clerestory windows, as well as a
sloped roof with a bi-fold door system. Myers felt
compelled to maintain the spectacular mountain vistas
of the site, as well as the views to the ocean.
12 Section of a bi-fold door with a sloped roof. The sloped
roof was later changed to flat, to allow for a re-circulating
pool system atop each building.
13 In this early flat roof alternative, in which the basic
structure of the house is nearing finality, Myers is still
considering a bi-fold door for the entrance faade and
porch of the main residence.
14, 15 Side elevations of the main residence showing
preliminary window layouts, as well as early flat roof
alternatives, with a bi-fold door faade.
16 As the roof of the main residence approached final
design, Myers began to experiment with glazed sectional
doors. These doors would be complemented by outer
rolling steel insulated shutters for fire protection.
17 Elevation with a combined flat roof and sloped clerestory
windows, using rolling steel shutters on the east faade
of the main residence.
18 The importance of line-of-sight in each building was a
concept present in Myers designs from the beginning.
This section shows the final flat roof design, with a
steel awning and vertical rolling doors on the entrance
faade, as well as interior design elements. From where
the sketched figure stands, the view to the upper terrace,
where the studio/archives building stands, and to the
surrounding canyon, mountains, and the Pacific Ocean
in the distance is virtually unobstructed.
19 An early elevation of the east faade of the main
residence, showing the porch and awning with sectional
glass doors, while Myers was still experimenting with
faade materials.
97
20
23
24
20 Myers has included an awning above the bi-fold door

option, as well as interior design ideas.
21 Side elevation of the main residence showing alternatives
for the mechanical towers of the main residence.
22 Myers considers the scale relation between the building
and average human height.
23 Section of the main residence, with specific
measurements and sight lines to the upper terrace and
studio/archives building.
24 The bathrooms in the buildings are direct and simple;
here, Myers sketched measurements and plumbing
details for the master bathroom in the main residence.
25 Resembling the corner entablature of an ancient temple,
this detail of a roof corner of the main residence has
Myers considering measurements.
21
22
98
25
99
1 In Southern California, where life outdoors is considered

a major defining element of architecture, the seamless
nature of the house at Toro Canyon is exemplary of
contemporary regional style and innovation.
Photography: Grant Mudford
2 The openness of the main residence is indicative of how
the natural environment is completely integrated into
this complex of buildings, making it seem as though the
buildings truly belong to the site.
3 From the rear of the main residence, the rooftop pools
echo the Pacific Ocean in the distance. Native oaks
provide shade and shelter, helping to provide a degree of
privacy to each building.
4 The approach to the site reveals the terracing of the
buildings, a technique that was devised to not only take
advantage of the panoramic views, but to also avoid the
removal of the ancient oaks on the site by simply
inserting the buildings between them.
5 The garage, a separate building, is realized in the form
of a parallelogram. The roof of the garage serves as a
zen garden.
3
100
101
6 Open-riser stairs from the garage terrace lead to the

main residence, here shown completely open.
Photography: Russ Widstrand
7 Rooftop pools grace each building, with the exception
of the garage, providing protection in the face of
sweeping canyon fires that are common to the area.
8 Deceptively simple elements combine to create an
overall effect of fluidity versus solidity: when open, the
steel rolling shutters disappear; when closed, they
cocoon the building.
Photography: Robert Polidori
9 The living room and kitchen space of the main residence
can be open to the outdoors, or enclosed, while still
10 receiving the visual pleasures of the site and natural
outdoor lighting.
Nestled among the mountains and native trees, the
11 main residence springs vertically from the earth, yet
appears part of the natural surroundings.
12 Clerestory lighting enhances the visual stimuli present
throughout the site. From the top terrace, the view to the
Pacific Ocean in the distance is unobstructed.
The steel rolling shutters, though immense in size, can
easily be lifted and lowered by one person.
11
10
12
102
103
13
14
15
17
13 At every turn, the transparency of the buildings provides

conspicuously visible entertainment. In this photo, the
eye travels from the living room to the studio on the
terrace behind, to the master bedroom and back to the
porch, always finding a delightful view.
Photography: Richard Powers
14 A steel canopy juts forth from the main residence
providing sun control.
15 The architect and his wife, Vicki.
16 The living room of the main residence spills onto the
porch, blurring the boundary between indoors and out.
17 The living room of the main residence, bathed in natural
light from all angles, is exemplary of the manner in
which the industrial nature of steel and concrete is
tempered by the books and textured furnishings.
16
104
105
19
20
22
21
18 Nowhere is the distinction between indoors and out

blurred so much as at the main residence, where a
corner of the living room seems to have only trees and
canyons as its walls.
19 Even on an incredibly foggy day, the structural clarity
and relative openness of the main residence is tangible.
20 Steel I-beams, chain and pulley systems, and steel
drums become the only form of solidity between indoors
and out when the rolling doors are raised.
21 The kitchen and living/dining room at the main residence
are separated by a partition wall, creating an informal
space for preparation, and a formal space for
entertaining.
22 The kitchen at the main residence features open shelving
and stainless steel cabinets.
23 A chain and pulley system is used to lift the rolling steel
shutters. Every glass area has a shutter for fire protection.
18
23
107
24, 25 The stone retaining wall, laid in a manner that recalls

the Roman opus incertum style, and the terraced
landscape behind the main residence serve as the
headboard for the bed in the master bedroom.
Photography: Robert Polidori, Richard Powers
26 The master bedroom opens on the north and south
sides, allowing Myers and his wife, Vicki, to extend their
bedroom space to the small courtyard, complete with
an outdoor fireplace. Here, sleeping outdoors takes on a
whole new meaning.
27 The kitchen and living room of the main residence are
warmed by a mixture of modern and antique
furnishings, such as the Canadian refectory table used
for formal dining.
28 Master bathroom.
Photography: Leif Wivelsted
28
24
25
26
108
27
109
29 The studio/archives building is tucked into the highest

terrace of the site, where the approach to the structure
resembles the ascent up a meandering stair to an
ancient temple.
30 The studio/archives building is a smaller version of the
main residence. It too can be completely open, providing
the perfect space for office retreats and meetings.
31 The east wall of the studio/archives is one large rolling
steel shutter, leaving the structure with only one opaque
wall when completely open.
32 The studio becomes a covered porch when completely
open, creating an airy, sun-drenched space for work,
study, or leisure.
29
30
32
31
110
111
34
35
36
33
33 A retaining tank catches the overflow from the pool

atop the guest house; the re-circulating pool system
provides thermal insulation, fire protection and
recreation in the form of a lap pool.
34 The kitchen of the main residence glows in the light
from the clerestory windows and glass walls, which
reflect the colors and shadows of the furnishings.
35 East wall of the guest house.
36 The entrance faade of the guest house, which occupies
the lowest terrace of the site, provides a greater degree
of privacy to its occupants, as well as panoramic views
of the surrounding canyons and the Pacific Ocean.
112
BARTON MYERS:
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Barton Myers graduated from the United States Naval Academy
and served as a jet-fighter pilot for five years in the United States Air Force, based for three
years in England. Following this period, he attended architecture courses at Cambridge
University and returned to the United States to study architecture. Mr Myers received his
Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania and subsequently
worked with Louis I. Kahn. He established his own practice in Toronto in 1968, where he
was principal in the firm of Diamond and Myers until 1975, when he formed Barton Myers
Associates in Toronto. In 1984, he opened an office in Los Angeles that is now the firms
base with a staff of approximately 25 professionals.
In 1986, Mr Myers was the recipient of the first Toronto Arts Award for Architecture in
recognition of his contribution to the city, and in 1994 was awarded the Royal Architectural
Institute of Canada Gold Medal. Most recently, he received the 2002 American Institute of
Architects/Los Angeles Chapter Gold Medal.
Barton Myers has taught architecture and planning at both the University of Toronto and
Waterloo University. He has also served as the Thomas Jefferson Professor at the
University of Virginia, the Graham Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and has
been a Visiting Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Mr Myers has held a
continuing appointment as Professor of Architecture at UCLAs School of Architecture and
Urban Design since 1980 and lectures extensively throughout North America and abroad.
The Los Angeles office is organized to emphasize the active leadership of Mr Myers on
projects, a commitment that includes involvement during all phases of design. As lead
design architect, he is assisted by other outstanding and experienced associates in key
roles, fulfilling the full range of design and execution responsibilities.
115
CHRONOLOGY
OF SINGLE-FAMILY
HOUSES
Tahoe Residence
Design/Completion: 1999/2002
Lake Tahoe, California
Laguna Beach House (Fig. 5)
Design: 2000
Laguna Beach, California
1
West Los Angeles Residence (Fig. 6)
10
11
12
Design/Construction: 2002/current
Los Angeles, California
Manhattan Beach House (Fig. 7)
Design: 2002
Manhattan Beach, California
2
Santa Ynez/Los Olivos Residence (Fig. 8)
George House Addition
Smith/Hamilton House
Design/Construction: 2003
Design: 1966
Design: 1977
Los Olivos, California
Norfolk, Virginia
Port Hope, Ontario
STELCO Catalogue Housing (Fig. 1)
Virginia Beach House
Design: 2003
Design: 1967
Design: 1978
Toronto, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Toronto House Renovation
Montecito Residence (Fig. 9)

Design: 2003
Blade Beach House
Toronto Residence
Design: 1969
Design: 1983
Toronto, Ontario
Blade Residence
Union Villa Residence
Design: 2003
Design/Completion: 1969
Design: 1983
Unionville, Ontario
Schwartz House
Beverly Hills House Renovation
Design: 1969
Design: 1985
Beverly Hills, California
Myers Residence, Toronto (Fig. 2)
Malibu House
Design: 2003
Design: 1986
Studio City, California
Toronto, Ontario
Malibu, California
Montecito Residence II
Graphic House
4
Design/Construction: 2002/current
Venice, California
Studio City Residence (Fig. 10)
Toro Canyon House II (Fig. 11)

Bush House
Qubec House
Design: 2004
Design: 1971
Toronto, Ontario
Ivry sur le Lac, Qubec
Wolf Residence (Fig. 3)
House & Studio at Toro Canyon (Fig. 4)
Design: 2004
(Myers Residence, Montecito)
Toronto, Ontario
Toro Canyon House III (Fig. 12)
116
3 STEEL HOUSES CHRONOLOGY OF SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSES
117
SELECTED
EXHIBITIONS
SELECTED
COMPETITIONS
Winning Entry
Finalist
Finalist
West Coast Residential: The Modern and
100 for 100
Exhibition of Barton Myers Associates:
Tempe Center for the Arts
Manchester City Art Gallery
Fremont Cultural Center
the Contemporary
Graduate School of Fine Arts, University of
Models, Drawings and Sketches
Tempe, Arizona
Manchester, UK
Fremont, California
Charles H. Scott Gallery, Emily Carr
Pennsylvania; Model and drawings
Koplin Gallery
2001
1995
1988
Institute of Art and Design
exhibition devoted to graduates of the GSFA
Vancouver, British Columbia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1987
2003
1990
Finalist
Finalist
Finalist
Ventura County Museum of History and Art
Tip Top Tailors Master Plan Competition
Ballet Opera House
Museum
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto, Ontario
Barton Myers: 3 Steel Houses
Exhibition of Phoenix Municipal
Architecture in Transition
Ventura, California
1994
1988
Perloff Hall Gallery, University of California
Government Center Competition Model
Vancouver, New York, Toronto, Montreal
and Drawings
1986
2002
Mandeville Gallery, University of California
2000
A Measure of Consensus: Canadian
Finalist
Winning Entry
Finalist
University of Maryland, College Park
Art Gallery of Ontario, Stage III
University of New Mexico School of
Center for Performing Arts
Toronto, Ontario
Nemzetkzi
Architecture
College Park, Maryland
1987
Galeria Centrlis
Albuquerque, New Mexico
1994
Winning Entry
2000
San Diego, California
Architects Drawings
1990
The Charles H. Scott Gallery, Emily Carr

College of Art and Design
Budapest, Hungary
Viewpoints: One Hundred Years of
2002
Architecture in Ontario, 18891989
1985
Traveling Exhibition, organized by Ontario
Second Place
Phoenix Municipal Government Center
Finalist
Native American Preparatory School Rowe,
Phoenix, Arizona
Barton Myers: 3 Steel Houses
Association of Architects
Recent Work
MIT Sloan School of Business
New Mexico
1985
University Art Museum, University of
Kingston, Toronto, Thunder Bay, London,
Clare Hall, Cambridge University
Boston, Massachusetts
1992
California
Kitchener, Windsor
Cambridge, England
Second Place
Santa Barbara, California
1989
1985
Winning Entry
Mississauga City Hall Design
2001
Finalist
UNLV School of Architecture
Mississauga, Ontario
United States Federal Courthouse
Las Vegas, Nevada
1982
Salt Lake City, Utah
1991
1998
Architecture of Democracy
Monument: Manifestation on Dealing with
The Competition for the United States
Wight Art Gallery, University of California;
Ancient Monuments Now
Pavilion, Expo 92, Seville, Spain
Exhibition of Phoenix Municipal Center
Studium Generale Rijksuniversiteit
Winning Entry
Graduate School of Architecture and Urban
Competition
Limburg, The Netherlands
Winning Entry
Portland Center for the Performing Arts
Planning, University of California
San Diego, California
1984
Finalist
U.S. Pavilion Expo 92
Portland, Oregon
1988
Bristol Centre for the Performing Arts
Seville, Spain
1982
1991
Bristol, UK
1989
1997
1996
Dreams of Development
Reconnaitre Le Corbusier
The Market Gallery
Faculty of Architecture Gallery, University
Toronto, Ontario
of Toronto, Ontario
1984
1987
118
3 STEEL HOUSES SELECTED COMPETITIONS / SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
119
Barton Myers Associates: Recent Work
Conference and Exhibition
CMHC Infill Housing Study,
Graduate School of Architecture and
Institute of Contemporary Art (in collabo-
Dundas Sherbourne Infill Housing
Urban Planning, University of California,
ration with sculptor Anthony Caro)
The Art Gallery at Harbourfront
London, England
Toronto, Ontario
1984
1982
1975
The Urban Solution: Toronto Life
Exhibition of Spadina Quay Competition
Perspectus 74: Exhibition of City of
Sable Castelli Gallery
Toronto Planning and Architecture
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto Chapter of Architects, David
1983
1981
Mirvish Gallery
Fresh Frontiers: Canadian Architects
Exhibition of Selected Projects
Abroad
School of Architecture
University of Toronto, Ontario
Exhibition of the Housing Union Building
Toronto, Ontario
1980
Walker Art Gallery
SELECTED
AWARDS
Toronto, Ontario
1974
Minneapolis, Minnesota
1983
Exhibition of Ghent Square Housing
1974
Seagram Museum Exhibit
The Canadian National Exhibition
Gold Medal Award,
Honor Award in Design
Award of Merit for Contribution to
sponsored by the Royal Canadian
Exhibition of Dundas Sherbourne Infill
Lifetime Achievement for
AIACC
Historical Preservation
Academy of Arts
Housing
Outstanding Design
Myers Residence, Montecito
Toronto Historical Board
1983
Toronto, Ontario
City Hall
AIA Los Angeles
2000
1974
1980
Toronto, Ontario
2002
1974
Seagram Museum Exhibit

University of Waterloo
Selected Works
Gold Medal
Design in Steel Award Program
Innovation in Housing Design Award
Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
Myers Residence, Toronto
AIA PIA
1994
1973
First Toronto Arts Award
Residential Design Award
for Architecture and Design
Canadian Housing Design Council
1986
Ontario
Walker Art Center, as published by
The Work of Diamond and Myers
1983
City Segments
Minneapolis, Minnesota
2002
1980
1973
Aesthetics for the Cold
Special Award
Hallwalls Gallery
Western Home Awards
1971
Buffalo, New York
Selected Works
Exploring Toronto
1983
Old Dominion University
Toronto Chapter of Architects, Nathan
Housing Award
Norfolk, Virginia
Phillips Square
20012002
Architectural Record: 25 Years of Record
1980
Toronto, Ontario
Major Projects, Canada in Berlin
1973
West Berlin, Germany

1982
Houses
Sunset Magazine Award
Wolf Residence
Exhibition of Drawings
1981
Ballenford Architectural Books
2001
Akademie der Knste
Housing Award
Toronto, Ontario
A Design Process, A Grand Avenue
Design Award Citation
Architectural Record: Homes
AIA Los Angeles
Wolf Residence
The Work of Barton Myers as Published in
1977
Design Quarterly No 108
2000
1979
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
1982
Landscape Ontario Award
University of California
Exhibition of Design Drawings
Honor Award
Noval Gallery, Vancouver League of
1979
AIA Summit Western International
1977
Design Award
Architects
Architectural Awareness Week
Design Award
1982
Queens Park
2000
Ontario Association of Architects
Toronto, Ontario
Dundas Sherbourne Infill Housing &
1977

1976
120
3 STEEL HOUSES SELECTED EXHIBITIONS / SELECTED AWARDS
121
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wolf Residence,
Tilley, Michael, World: Toronto House, The
Bertelsen, Ann, Daniel Gregory, and Peter
Toronto
Architectural Review, Vol. CLXII
O. Whiteley, 20012002 Western Home
No. 967, September 1977, pp. 140143.
Awards, Sunset; The Magazine of Western

Living, October 2001, p. 118.
Architectural Signals: five unique houses

that point the way to the twenty-first
Wolf Residence, Process: Architecture,
century, Building Magazine; A House &
Vol. 5, April 1978, pp. 118123.
Garden Guide, Fall/Winter 1976, pp. 5459.
Images Publishing Group, Mulgrave,

Wolf Residence, Toronto, Canadian
Architect, Vol. 21, No. 10, October 1976,
Vol. 2, 1977, pp. 94103.
pp. 2833.
Domus, April 2000.
Built Like a Warehouse, Canada Home
Myers Residence,
Gazette Alumni magazine, University of
Dcor, Fall/Winter 1978, pp. 3842.
Montecito
Pennsylvania, March/April 2000.
Case nuove fuori citt: Un container di
Television Programs
Giovannini, Joseph, Customizing the
pp. 5055.
Gillespie, Bernard, Perspectives: Project,
Morris, Neal, Innovative Architecture,
Toronto
The Canadian Architect, Vol. 15, No. 9,
Building News, No. 584, March 5, 1982,
A Century of Canadian Architecture,
September 1970, pp. 68.
pp. 1314.
Canadian Architect, January 2000, p. 32.
Hix, John, The Glass House, The MIT Press,
Mutsch-Engel, Annemarie and Alexander
Contemporary Houses of the World: Wolf
Cambridge, MA, 1974, p. 179.
Koch Verlagsantalt, Wohnegebaude Wand an

Wand, 1980, p. 55.
Entertainment), 2000.
1999, p. B42.
Residence, Architecture and Urbanism,
Liquid Design, HGTV (Home & Garden
Giovannini, Joseph, Open to Nature, but
No. 101, February 1979, pp. 3741.
Television), 2000.
Ready for Fire, The Ventura County Star,

June 4, 1999, p. D1.
Industrial Design: Crystal Palace on a
Magazine, September 4, 1982, pp. 611.
domestic scale, House Beautifuls Building
Myers Residence, Toronto, The Canadian
Domestic Plan with Industrial Materials,
Manual, Vol. 80, No. 1, Spring 1980,
Architect, Vol. 17, No. 2, February 1972,
House & Garden, Vol. 32, No. 7, September
pp. 118121.
pp. 4649.
1977, pp. 7679.
No. 4, April 1978, pp. 100101.

Infill Townhouse, The Architectural Forum,
Ripley, Jim, Successful Home Marketing:
Einfamilienhaus in Toronto, CDN,
Vol. 136, No. 3, April 1972, pp. 6265.
Focus on a unique market niche, Canadian
Baumeister, Vol. 4, April 1977, pp. 345348.
Barton Myers, Toshi-Jutaku Urban Housing

King, Annabelle, Design Homes 71; Two
pp. 4245.
Urban Solutions, Chatelaine, Vol. 44, No. 9,

September 1971, pp. 81, 8688.
pp. 2629.
Schofield, Maria, ed., Decorative Art and
Giovannini, Joseph, Open to the Outdoors,

100 of the Worlds Best Houses, The Images
Santa Barbara News-Press, May 23, 1999,
Publishing Group, Mulgrave, Australia, 2002,
pp. D1, D10.
pp. 146147.
International Architecture Yearbook, Volume
Focus: Steel-Component Housing: The Wolf
Australia, 2001, pp. 180181.

arcCA: Journal of the American Institute of
No. 133, November 1978, pp. 3036.
Architects, California Council, Design
Lang Ho, Cathy and Raul A. Barreneche,
Awards Issue, January 2001, p. 31.
House: American Houses for the New

Century, Universe Publishing, New York,
Toronto Observed: Its Architecture, Patrons
Kron, Joan and Suzanne Slesin, High-Tech:
Vol. 69, Studio Vista Publishers, Sydney,
Gordon, Barclay F., Record Houses of 1977:
and History, Oxford University Press,
The Industrial Style and Source Book for the
Auckland, 1980, pp. 2025.
The Wolf Residence, Architectural Record,
Architecture and Urban Design, UCLA
Oxford, England, 1986, p. 259.
Home, Amilcare Pizzi, S.p.A. Publishers,
May 1977, pp. 4953.
Arts magazine, Vol. 4, No. 2, Spring 2001,
Milan, Italy, 1978, pp. 42, 47, 162, 183184.

Diamond & Myers: Casa e serra (House
and Greenhouse) in Canada, Domus,
Lasker, David, The Great Space Debate,
No. 540, pp. 3437.
Canadian House & Home, Vol. 8, No. 5,

November/December 1986, pp. 5057.
Diamond & Myers: Toronto, Canada, Global

Interiors, Houses in U.S.A. series, Vol. 2,
Lewin, Susan Grant, High-Tech Moves In,
1974, pp. 114121.
House Beautiful, Vol. 120, No. 7, July 1978,
7, The Images Publishing Group, Mulgrave,
Residence, Toshi-Jutaku Urban Housing,

Modern Interiors: Environments for People,
Dendy, William and William Kilbourn,
Publications
A+U magazine, Tokyo, Japan, May 2000.
Building, Vol. 28, No 9, September 1978,
Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 190, August 1983,
Giovannini, Joseph, Open to Nature, but

Ready for Fire, The New York Times, May 7,
private styles, The Globe and Mail Lifestyle
Architects Own Houses of the World:
June 1999, pp. 96101.
House Beautiful, A&E (Arts and
19 Berryman Street, Toronto, Baumeister,
Apertures II, House Beautiful, Vol. 120,
Ready-made, Architecture, Vol. 88, No. 6,

21st Century Homes, HGTV (Home & Garden
Television), 2000.
Myers Residence,
Alaton, Salem, Architects: Public visions,
Australia, 2000, pp. 1823.
Barton Myers, Wolf House, GA Houses,
vetro, Abitare, No. 180, December 1979,
Vol. 12, December 1972, pp. 14441445.
Details in Architecture, Volume 2, The
p. 15.
Skurka, Norma, Toronto Townhouse: A Year-
NY, 2001, pp. 6473.

McGuire, Penny, House: Montecito,
California, USA: Barton Myers, The
Round Garden, The New York Times
Hine, Thomas, Ever-Changing, Conflicting
Magazine, August 21, 1977, pp. 5253.
Aesthetics, 25 Years of Record Houses,
At Home with Barton Myers, The National
Architectural Review, Vol. CCVIII, No. 1242,
Herbert L. Smith, Jr., ed., Architectural
Post, November 13, 1999, p. 28.
August 2000, pp. 8789.
Barton Myers: 949 Toro Canyon Road, GA
Moonan, Wendy, Water Shed, House &
Houses, Volume 61, September 1999, pp.
Garden, February 2002, pp. 98105.
Toronto, the English City: Courtyard
Record Books, New York, NY, 1981,
House, Abitare, Vol. 233, April 1985,
pp. 196199.
pp. 7477.
Hine, Thomas, Wolf House, Modern
4261.
Whiteson, Leon, Modern Canadian
American Houses: Four Decades of Award-
Mountain Houses, Loft Publications,
Ein Schmalhans Mit Reichem Innenleben,
Architecture, Hurtig Publishers Ltd.,
Winning Design in Architectural Record,
Barcelona, Spain, 2000.
Huser, January 1982, pp. 124131.
Edmonton, Alberta, 1983, pp. 152155.
Clifford A. Pearson ed., Harry N. Abrams,
pp. 8083.
Inc. New York, NY, 1996, pp. 126129.

122
3 STEEL HOUSES BIBLIOGRAPHY
123
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Rasch, Horst, Time Out for the Fire

Brigade, Huser International, March/April
2001, pp. 8287.
Residence magazine, Stockholm, Sweden,
Number 5, 2000.
Webb, Michael, Back to Basics, Los Angeles
Times Magazine, February 20, 2000, pp.
2429.
Webb, Michael, Brave New Houses:
Adventures in Southern California Living,
Stephen Case, ed., Rizzoli International
Publications, Inc., New York, NY, 2003,
pp. 156163.
Webb, Michael, Fire and Water, Belle
Looking over almost 30 years of practice, it is
magazine, April/May 2000, pp. 96103.
only appropriate that I acknowledge at least a

few of the many who have influenced me and
Project Teams, Consultants, and Contractors
Barton & Victoria Myers, Contractors

Zwerling, Philip, Steeling Beauty, Santa
helped make our practice what it is.
Diamond & Myers, Architects
Barbara Magazine, Special Issue: Homes &
To them and others who, because of space,
Barton Myers, Principal-in-Charge
Gardens, February/March 2002, pp. 98104,
could not be listed here, my great
Tony Marsh, Project Architect
126.
appreciation and thanks.
Morden S. Yolles & Associates,

Structural Engineers
Family
Victoria Myers, Wife
Suzanne Myers, Daughter
Adam Pincus, Son-in-law
Aaron Campbell, Associate
G. Granek & Associates,

Mechanical Engineers
Helyar, Vermeulen, Rae & Mauchan,
Quantity Surveyors/Cost Consultants
Epstein/Francis and Associates,

Consulting Structural Engineers
Ove Arup & Partners, California,
Consulting Mechanical & Electrical
Engineers
Norman H. Caldwell, Civil Engineer
Davis, Langdon & Adamson, Cost
Consultant
Douglas G. Richardson,
Landscape Designer/Agriculturist
McMullen and Warnock, Contractors

Santa Barbara
Stuart Ash, Graphic Designer
Kurt G. F. Helfrich, Curator

Architecture & Design Collection
University of California, Santa Barbara
Los Angeles
Barton Myers Associates, Inc., Architects
Peter Robertson, Graphic Designer,
Barton Myers Associates, Inc.
Kelly Robinson, Archivist,
For the production of this monograph I would

Wolf Residence, Toronto
Robertson, who acted as editors and project
managers; Kurt Helfrich who wrote the
Read Jones Christofferson, Ltd.,
Foreword; Suzanne Myers who conducted
Structural Engineers
G. Granek & Associates,
Mechanical Engineers
A. J. Vermeulen, Inc.,
Quantity Surveyors/Cost Consultants
Lawrence Wolf, General Contractor

Lawrence and Mary Wolf,
Wolf Residence
Victoria Myers,
House and Studio at Toro Canyon
3 STEEL HOUSES BIBLIOGRAPHY / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
project interviews and provided criticism; and

Victoria Myers for her extreme attention to
detail in proofreading. I would also like to
thank Paul Latham and Alessina Brooks at
The Images Publishing Group for their assistance in the publication of this book, as well
as for the publication of a monograph of my
House and Studio at Toro Canyon, Montecito

Barton Myers Associates, Inc.,
Architects
work, titled Master Architect Series: Barton

Myers: Selected and Current Works (1994), and
the monograph of the New Jersey Performing
Arts Center, titled New Stage for a City;
Clint Wallace, Project Architect,
Designing the New Jersey Performing Arts
Associate
Don Mills, Associate
124
like to thank Kelly Robinson and Peter
Diamond & Myers, Architects
Clients
Victoria and Suzanne Myers,
Book
Center (1998); and Paola Faoro for designing

this beautiful book.
125
ADDITIONAL
PHOTO CREDITS
Cover Image:
Russ Widstrand
Back Cover Images:
(Myers Residence) Ian Samson
(Wolf Residence) John Fulker
(House & Studio at Toro Canyon) Grant Mudford
Chapter Opening Images double page spreads:
(Myers Residence) Ian Samson
(Wolf Residence) John Fulker
(House & Studio at Toro Canyon) Russ Widstrand
Kurt G. F. Helfrichs Forward:
(Fig. 1) Architecture & Design Collection, UCSB
(Fig. 2) Marvin Rand
(Fig. 3) Barton Myers Associates, Inc.
(Fig. 4) Bent Rej
(Fig. 5) Yukio Futagawa & Associated Photographers
(T. Kitajima)
(Fig. 7) Grant Mudford
(Fig. 10) Julius Shulman
(Fig. 11) Marvin Rand
(Fig. 12) David Gebhard
(Fig. 13) Wayne McCall & Associates

(Fig. 7) Ian Samson
(Fig. 9) Bent Rej
(Fig. 10) Bent Rej
(Fig. 12) source unknown, Property of
(Fig. 13) Steven F. Schar (www.taskforce1.org)
(Fig. 14) Ian Samson
(Fig. 15) Horst Ehricht
(Fig. 16) Bill Maris
(Fig. 17) Patricia Layman Bazelon
(Fig. 22) Karl Sliva
(Fig. 23) Bent Rej
(Fig. 26) Bent Rej
(Fig. 27) Bent Rej
(Fig. 28) John Fulker
Myers Residence Interview:

(Fig. 1) Bent Rej
(Fig. 3) Karl Sliva
Wolf Residence Interview:

(Fig. 5) Ian Samson
(Fig. 18) Ian Samson
(Fig. 19) Timothy Hursley
(Fig. 20) Patricia Layman Bazelon
126
3 STEEL HOUSES ADDITIONAL PHOTO CREDITS
Bartons Introduction:
(Fig. 5) Paul B. Lowney
(Fig. 7) Karl Sliva
(Fig. 9) Karl Sliva
(Fig. 12) SPIRO Architectural Image Database;
Architecture Visual Resources Library, University of
California, Berkeley, Lifchez Collection
(Fig. 21) Yukio Futagawa & Associated Photographers

(T. Kitajima)
House & Studio at Toro Canyon Interview:
(Fig. 3) Russ Widstrand
(Fig. 7) Annette Del Zoppo
(Fig. 12) Thomas Schneider (BMA inc.)
(Fig. 13) Thomas Schneider (BMA inc.)
Chronology of Single Family Houses:
(Fig. 2) Ian Samson
(Fig. 5) Stephen Lee, (BMA Inc.)
(Fig. 6) Jorge Narino, Kengo Nozu
(Fig. 7) Kengo Nozu
(Fig. 8) Jorge Narino
(Fig. 11) Jorge Narino
(Fig. 12) Aaron Campbell
88
Every effort has been made to trace the original

source of copyright material contained in this
book. The publishers would be pleased to hear
from copyright holders to rectify any errors or
omissions.
The information and illustrations in this publication have been prepared and supplied by Barton
Myers Associates, Inc. While all reasonable
efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, the
publishers do not, under any circumstances,
accept responsibility for errors, omissions and
representations express or implied.

Steel Book PDF

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Descrizione originale:

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Steel Book PDF

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

@steel_book 020 8/9/04 5:14 PM Page 80

3 STEEL HOUSES CHAPTER NAME

@steel_book 020 8/9/04 5:14 PM Page 82

House and Studio at Toro Canyon

The House at Toro Canyon is a residence sited in

north. A creek runs the length of the site, through

serene Southern California landscape. The siting

interventions, thus preserving and enhancing the

natural landscape of the site.

To conserve the beauty of the landscape and save

its trees, Myers...decided to put his studio at the

top of the steep slope, a guest house and garage

below, and the main house on a level pad between.

Lofty steel-framed pavilions have roll-up segmented

glass doors opening onto terraces and roll-down

shutters to provide security when the owners are

away, to protect from brush fires, and screen the

sun. As an added safeguard and to insulate the

interiors from the heat of summer, each flat roof

serves as a shallow pool, containing water that is

re-circulated from uphill storage tanks. Nature

conditions the air, and a lap pool runs along the

edge of the guest house roof. [Michael Webb, on

the Myers House, in Brave New Houses: Adventures

in Southern California Living (2003)]

Pavilion and how to do that again in a new way.

houses. It builds upon the Southern California

tradition of seamless spatial integration of indoors

and out and continues Barton Myers explorations in

steel housing in which industrial materials are used

basically the mountainsides. (Fig. 3) It switches the relationshipthe house becomes an

out of context; an emphasis first developed with the

object within the garden.

Wolf House, and the earlier Myers Residence in

press release, University Art Museum, University of

had encountered before?

California, Santa Barbara (2001)]

@steel_book 020 8/9/04 5:14 PM Page 84

Q: How did you decide where to site the pavilions?

How do those influences come in?

the water solved that from an aesthetic point of view. (Fig. 5)

Kyoto, the interrelationships between the indoor and outdoor.

3 STEEL HOUSES HOUSE AND STUDIO AT TORO CANYON, MONTECITO

@steel_book 020 8/9/04 5:14 PM Page 86

open 75 percent of the time.

Q: So which of the elements are prefab?

this could almost be a catalogue house.

of my house as being made of Ferraris, Maseratis, Fords and Cadillacs...

You had to be careful not to create any erosion or water problems.

3 STEEL HOUSES HOUSE AND STUDIO AT TORO CANYON, MONTECITO

@steel_book 020 8/9/04 5:14 PM Page 88

Q: How did the house change through the design process?

any of the other houses up here. It sits very low.

about order versus informality. As an architect I always like an ordered landscape. So

just a factor of the conditions?

Californian, more agrarian, preserving as much of the beautiful landscape as possible.

cities better. I was so focused for so long on that.

muted and work very well together.

3 STEEL HOUSES HOUSE AND STUDIO AT TORO CANYON, MONTECITO

@steel_book 020 8/9/04 5:14 PM Page 90

3 STEEL HOUSES HOUSE AND STUDIO AT TORO CANYON, MONTECITO

@steel_book 020 8/9/04 5:14 PM Page 92