These mid-20th century touchstones included the Alfa Romeo Duetto (the car driven by Dustin Hoffman in the 1967 movie The Graduate); vintage military wristwatches; Hitchock’s 1959 stylish thriller North by Northwest; Blue Note jazz album covers from the 50s and 60s; and jazz pianist Jack Wilson’s dreamy 1966 tune, Harbor Freeway 5 PM.
“I was incredibly excited with the inspirations on the list,” remembers Cliff Welch, who was contacted by the clients in 2003 after they were unsuccessful in finding a suitable mid-century modern house to buy and renovate. The clients had researched some of the best modern architecture in the country by the time they hired Welch.
Room designed by architect Cliff Welch. Burnt oranges and woodsy tones are evocative of colors taken from classic jazz album covers. The terrazzo stone floors harken back to houses from the mid-20th century; contemporary Ipe wood ceilings, a dark manganese ironspot brick fireplace, and steel beams keep things current
“It seems like the most successful modern houses, new or old, were ones where there was a strong relationship between the architect and owners,” says the homeowner, an avid collector of jazz recordings, including hundreds of original vinyl albums from the 50s and 60s.“My wife and I approached our relationship with Cliff in full disclosure mode, including everything that we were interested in and how we wanted to live,” he says.
Bulthaup's B3 kitchen design and Fireslate countertops; Custom sapele wood cabinets by Lauren Marlow of Purcell Cabinets.
Welch culled through the list of his clients' list of design inspirations looking for one in particular to focus on. “They were all clean-lined, interesting and well-designed,” he says. “I was familiar with everything on the list, but when he handed me the CD of Harbor Freeway, that was something new and fresh. I’d never heard it before.”
The 7-minute, atmospheric melody, Harbor Freeway 5 PM., features Jack Wilson on piano and Roy Ayres on vibraphone. It soon had Cliff Welch hooked. “I played it over and over again,” he says. “There’s a richness to it, the way it starts out simple and builds in the middle, then softens towards the end.”
Almost immediately, Welch realized that Harbor Freeway had the potential to be more than inspiration. It could also become the house’s parti, an architectural term describing the unifying idea behind a building’s entire design.
Room designed by architect Cliff Welch. Custom cabinets by Purcell Cabinetry.
“I was after the feel of the song mostly, which is intangible,” says Welch, who played Harbor Freeway in the background for two and a half months as he sketched the house’s design. To his clients’ amazement, Welch also successfully borrowed musical elements of the song, dissecting its structure, rhythm, and notes.
“It was a challenge, but essentially we took the ordering system of the music and used it for the ordering system of the house.” Welch, who had never played a musical instrument, taught himself how to play the first few bars of Harbor Freeway on the piano.
The design phase of the house was finished in a year, and they broke ground in 2005, explains Cliff Welch, who was given a new Blue Note jazz CD by the clients each time they met.
The bouncy rhythms inherent in jazz music not only influenced the way Welch laid out the rhythm of the house, but the mix of materials (terrazzo, Ipe wood, dark manganese ironspot brick, glass and steel) and the mix of colors (burnt oranges, grays, and greens), colors which were pulled directly from mid-century Blue Note album covers. “There’s a playfulness in jazz. It slows down and gets quiet, then pops up and goes wild. Jazz takes chances. You can feel that as you move through the house, with all the different layers and levels and the mix of multiple colors and palettes.”
True to Harbor Freeway, the house starts out deceptively quiet, then builds. From the street, it appears to be a modest, one-story structure. But the spacious 4,700 square foot home opens up in back, following the slope of the 1/3 acre lot’s wooded terrain, with cantilevered rooms and a second story built below. Inside, low ceilinged hallways open onto big, higher ceilinged rooms with large windows. There are stepped levels throughout. “The house unfolds gradually. Nothing’s too obvious,” says Welch.
A glass balcony overlooking the pool. All landscaping, including then pool area, was designed by Kelly James
The family moved into their new house in 2008. “The floor plan simply has great flow, as does [the song] Harbor Freeway,” says the homeowner, who notes that dinner party guests have commented on the house’s “intangible coolness” which they attribute not only to the layout, but the materials, design, and of course, the jazz music playing in the background. “We definitely nailed it.”
