Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Steel Fuses Industrial and Modern in a California Pavilion
Heavy on metal, this two-story addition entertains with a stargazing hot tub, a fire pole and an unusual fire feature
Earl Anderson is a steel manufacturer in the business of making equipment for harvesting almonds. He loves the cold, raw material so much that he decided to use an abundance of it for his new two-story entertaining pavilion and garage in the back of his 1920s bungalow house in downtown Modesto, California.
Architect Ben Miller helped design the cool addition, which features custom everything: fire pole, laser-cut steel panels, stainless steel hot tub, lightbulbs and an ingenious cylindrical dumbwaiter that carries firewood from the ground floor straight through the ceiling to the fireplace above.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Earl Anderson, a steel manufacturer
Location: Modesto, California
Size: 1,635 square feet; 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Budget: Around $300,000, or $200 per square foot
Architect Ben Miller helped design the cool addition, which features custom everything: fire pole, laser-cut steel panels, stainless steel hot tub, lightbulbs and an ingenious cylindrical dumbwaiter that carries firewood from the ground floor straight through the ceiling to the fireplace above.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Earl Anderson, a steel manufacturer
Location: Modesto, California
Size: 1,635 square feet; 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Budget: Around $300,000, or $200 per square foot
The space below the fire pan is connected to a steel tube, through which a dumbwaiter can ferry wood from below. The custom flue was designed so that Anderson can heat teakettles on either side and roast nuts and warm bread on a slide-out interior pan.
Homeowner Earl Anderson stands next to the dumbwaiter door on the first floor.
Design that serves multiple functions is a big theme throughout the pavilion. A brass tube acts as a fun fire pole in the stairwell but also conceals a drain for the roof.
Anderson's cat, Hannibal, watches the fire from the kitchen, where elm wood cabinets lighten the space. The oversize Edison-style bulbs were custom made.
A frosted-glass sliding door opens to the bedroom.
Anderson's girlfriend, artist Michelle Tucker, lounges in the bedroom, where more elm cabinets warm up the space. The subtle reflection on the floor comes from a moderate sealer over the concrete.
Anderson came up with the idea to run the shower's copper water piping out through the wall to create a towel rack that, when someone is taking a hot shower, heats the towel.
A nearly 8-foot-wide steel door connects the pavilion to a courtyard and the main bungalow.
The sofa can be turned to extend out to the hot tub area. Anderson sits with friend Signe Darpinian beneath a painting of the two done by Tucker.
Because Miller didn't want one wide groove in the floor for the sliding doors, he custom cut multiple thin slits instead, creating an added design element. The circular patterns on the concrete floor mimic those created in the courtyard below.
Because Miller didn't want one wide groove in the floor for the sliding doors, he custom cut multiple thin slits instead, creating an added design element. The circular patterns on the concrete floor mimic those created in the courtyard below.
The stainless steel hot tub is custom, with a negative edge that spills water over the side.
Anderson said he always wanted to sit in a hot tub and look at the stars. So Miller, with help from the project's builder and contractor, Moore Construction and Doug Balsbaugh, respectively, cut a hole in the ceiling so he could do just that.
Anderson said he always wanted to sit in a hot tub and look at the stars. So Miller, with help from the project's builder and contractor, Moore Construction and Doug Balsbaugh, respectively, cut a hole in the ceiling so he could do just that.
The garage exterior is stucco mixed with crushed stone for a heavier texture. The pavilion above has redwood lap siding painted grayish blue to match the main bungalow. Rust-red Cor-Ten steel, fabricated by Dakota Ag Welding, was used for the garage door and the staircase leading up to the pavilion.
The yellow street sign inspired Anderson and Miller to incorporate the color into their design. A yellow watering can on top of the garage plays off the color ...
The yellow street sign inspired Anderson and Miller to incorporate the color into their design. A yellow watering can on top of the garage plays off the color ...
... as do the powder-coated-steel door handles.
Landscape designer Ken Westfall played off the circles of the hot tub and dumbwaiter to create a curving design in the courtyard.
The homeowner brought plumbing up for a sink near the tree and poked the pipe through its trunk for a showerhead on the other side. The tree then grew around the plumbing, causing the showerhead to appear like it's coming right out of the tree.
Miller, right, and his wife, Tami, stand in the courtyard looking up to Tucker and Darpinian.
Miller, right, and his wife, Tami, stand in the courtyard looking up to Tucker and Darpinian.
At night interior lights make the stripe patterns on the steel garage door and staircase stand out.
Interior designer Sonja Knutsen chose the fire-engine-red sofa.