You know a cellar is quite important to a family when it takes a significant effort of engineering to make it happen. Excavating this cellar on the beach involved pumping out and purify sea water and massaging quite thick foundation walls, to name a couple of feats. And it’s a few interesting features, including sports sets, a train dangled from the ceiling and matches.
“All these are very social people and always have friends stopping over unannounced, are hosting large family gatherings and organizing celebrations for special occasions and charities; they adore being the home that everyone comes to for pleasure,” says Josette Murphy, owner and principal designer at About Space. They wanted their cellar to have a playful vacation-at-home feeling, including games, a media area with plenty of comfortable seating, a wine cellar and a kitchenette. Here’s a closer look at exactly what Murphy has dubbed “a self indulgent playroom for adults.”
Basement at a Glance
Who lives here: A family with a teenaged daughter and teenage son
Location: Hermosa Beach, California
Size: About 1,150 square feet
About:Space, LLC
This family loves the outdoors and all kinds of sports, and the two loves are reflected throughout the cellar. Among the homeowners created the notion of this surfboard light over the pool desk.
“The fixture was custom made, but really it was relatively straightforward to assemble,” Murphy says. “The electrician had it fabricated with standard fixture parts, with downlight fixtures embedded into the bottom of the surfboard. The whole assembly is suspended by a stem and canopy that the wiring feeds through. Because you don’t see the top of the board, the wiring was only run on top.”
About:Space, LLC
As soon as you come down the staircase, this unique skateboard display lets you know that this is no ordinary cellar. “Together with the textural stone wall for a backdrop, and some carefully planned lighting, the planks become a scuplture,” Murphy says. “It really sets the tone for games and fun.”
About:Space, LLC
“The client had a unique group of signed sports decorations, and she knew she wanted to frame them and exhibit them, but we wanted something with more punch than just styled jerseys onto a painted wall,” Murphy explains. She designed all of the custom millwork and lighting around the framed jerseys, creating a distinctive visual backdrop for the match tables.
About:Space, LLC
Thoughtful millwork and lighting design play a huge part in the plan throughout the cellar. By way of example, this cupboard for pool cues is integrated with the rest of the woodwork.
A built-in dartboard matches into the screen millwork too.
About:Space, LLC
About:Space, LLC
The basement includes a lot of storage, including this massive wine cellar. A glass door and sidelights permit the clients to admire their assortment from the pub area across from it.
Fitting in all of the elements was rather a design challenge. “For the shuffleboard table, we realized we could place it fairly close to the side wall, because the players stand to the ends, not along either side. However, for billiards you need space all around to the players, plus clearance for their cues on those long shots,” Murphy says.
“We planned the size and design of the other spaces like the wine cellar, bath and pub in conjunction with the freestanding elements, and it all fit beautifully.”
About:Space, LLC
Another significant design challenge was hanging the customer’s train set. The design team planned about it from the beginning of the undertaking, and strategically positioned mechanical ducts at the ceilings and soffits to accommodate it.
“We could leave the maximum height above the central seating area, and assembled a ledge for the train and its paths,” she says. “It is fun to watch is go around, particularly at Christmastime.”
About:Space, LLC
“Lighting is particularly critical in a cellar or other area where there is little to no natural lighting,” Murphy says. “We think of lighting as a design tool, and mostly use it to set the mood and move the eye. We try to combine unique effects, such as backlighting, spotlights [and] grazing effects on surfaces or walls that have texture. You can do a lot with lighting, and you don’t require expensive fixtures; you need creativity and dimmability.”
About:Space, LLC
The far end of this space contains mechanical and storage areas, as well as a powder room. A woodcut reveals the family’s love of surfing.
About:Space, LLC
Typical of powder rooms, this one is not large. “In a powder you don’t require much storage everything you need is a gorgeous sink space, interesting materials and a little part of shock,” Murphy says. “We worked with the client to select a sink base that is open and feels just like furniture.” The massive sink is well scaled to the room and matches with the scale of the entire open dressing table. “It has a rear ledge for hand soap, which is all you need in a powder. Notice it does not touch the left-side wall socket. This helps keep it feeling open and airy.”
Hint: “Putting the dressing table from the wall like this also allows you to hang a hand towel onto the side wall to hang between the vanity and the wall, so it may be suspended low in comfortable reach level, not far up high, which is awkward — you know, reach up to the towel, water drips down [your] sleeve. It appears silly, but in the end these small things create a space a nicer experience,” Murphy says.
See the rest of the beachfront house