How They Pulled It Off: A Triple-Leaf Door Creates Visual Privacy

A custom three-part door, cork walls, and an accessible bathroom get this California ranch ready for its residents to age-in-place.

Oct 23, 2024 - 20:34
How They Pulled It Off: A Triple-Leaf Door Creates Visual Privacy

A custom three-part door, cork walls, and an accessible bathroom get this California ranch ready for its residents to age-in-place.

They say that knowledge is power, but sometimes it’s what you don’t know—the "known unknowns"—that lead to exciting new ideas. That was the case when Galen Pardee and Manuel Cordero, the founding principals of the architecture firm CoPa, were approached by a couple looking to renovate their house to accommodate aging with a chronic illness.

The home, a single-story ranch house, is in a quiet,<span style= rural residential neighborhood adjacent to the agricultural landscape that surrounds Davis, California. The home's bathroom had been renovated by the previous owners, complete with a jacuzzi bathtub and dated fixtures and finishes.">

The home, a single-story ranch house, is in a quiet, rural residential neighborhood adjacent to the agricultural landscape that surrounds Davis, California. The home's bathroom had been renovated by the previous owners, complete with a jacuzzi bathtub and dated fixtures and finishes.

Photo: Leonid Furmansky

"The unknowns surrounding the clients’ diagnosis and its progression were the primary drivers of the renovation," explains Pardee. Joanna and Michael are both in academia; Joanna is Vice Provost at UC Davis, and Michael is a professor. They were looking to try and stay in their home as long as they could without needing full-time care, and wanted to "feel confident and reasonably unencumbered by the inefficiencies of the existing layout."

When these two door leaves are in this closed position, they create a threshold between the primary bedroom and the sitting room/bathroom. The bathroom and sitting room effectively become one larger, combined space in this configuration.

When these two door leaves are in a closed position, they create a threshold between the primary bedroom and the sitting room/bathroom. The bathroom and sitting room effectively become one larger, combined space in this configuration.

Photo: Leonid Furmansky

Both leaves of the doors open up to the sitting area.

Both leaves of the doors open to the sitting area.

Photo: Leonid Furmansky

See the full story on Dwell.com: How They Pulled It Off: A Triple-Leaf Door Creates Visual Privacy
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