In the mid-1950s, even a schoolteacher could afford an acre of land overlooking the Pacific and commission a frugal, wood-framed, glass-walled residence from a firm that was winning acclaim for its steel-framed Case Study Houses. The Steinman house had survived intact beneath a shroud of untamed foliage, and Boyd launched a three-year campaign to realize its potential for new owners. Within the house, carpeting laid over the concrete slab was replaced by cork, and all the surfaces were cleaned and refreshed. The challenge was to select furnishings of the right scale, period, and refinement, without turning the interior into a time capsule. Ellwood design principal Jerry Lomax had added a detached carport in 1960 and remodeled the former garage as a children’s room. To balance the composition, Boyd designed a pool cabana of similar size on the opposite side. The cabana, pool and palm trees create an outdoor living area that extends the house into the landscape.
