July/August 2005
By Laurel Kallenbach
The way of harmonious spirit
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To start with a clean palette, the house’s second story was gutted and a thirty-seven-foot addition was built at the rear. Balancing the house’s square, stolid corners, the new design incorporates curves, including a sweeping balcony overlooking the garden (with a serpentine walkway) and the arching roof of the stairway that leads to the brick-and-glass garden room.
Aikido-like flow from room to room also enlivens the home. One of Ray’s goals was to create a floorplan that felt open but still provided privacy. Because the home is long and narrow, Miller designed a slight offset in the middle so you can’t peer from the kitchen/dining/living room area to the master bedroom.
Ray is an avid gardener, so the Zen principle of connecting to nature was paramount. Miller harmonized the outdoors and indoors by designing large French doors leading onto the balcony from the living/dining room and master bedroom; now all the major living spaces have garden views. The master bedroom, located in the modern addition, was built at an angle to give a better vantage point on the garden; it’s also protected by the branches of a Crimean linden. “During summer, I open the French doors and am surrounded by green leaves,” says Ray. “It’s like being in a tree house.”
That tree is one of the keys to the house’s passive solar orientation. The long side of the original house faces south, and although it might have been easier to build the addition on that side, Miller wanted to preserve the southern exposure. On winter days, the home’s brick absorbs the sun’s warmth and holds it through the night. During summer, the south side is shaded by surrounding deciduous trees, and Ray is able to reduce heating and air conditioner use year-round. “Being environmentally sensitive is in line with the aikido philosophy,” notes Miller. “It’s all about respecting nature and working with it, not against it.”
A path to an inner world
Ray’s love of Asian culture is reflected in the home’s décor as well, and clean lines and quiet colors work surprisingly well within the nineteenth-century parameters. To create the authentic shoji screens, which serve as doors to the study and the living room’s entertainment center, Ray hired nationally renowned Japanese carpenter John Okumura, now retired.
More than anything, Ray delights in surprises. “In the garden, I have a secret path the neighborhood kids love to explore,” he says. “I planned it so you always find something you didn’t expect.” The same magic appreciation applies to his renovated home. A visitor approaches the traditional façade, then discovers that its narrow, square atmosphere opens into a light airy space with Japanese touches.
“The flow of the house reflects the personal journey,” Miller says. “You leave the public realm—work, perhaps—and enter the home’s personal environment. Here, you take the path from the garage to the sidewalk, through the garden, up the stairs, and inside. You’ve separated from the outer world and are in harmony with the inner self and nature. That’s what we wanted this home to be about.”