Gussie Moran House

As the former residence of tennis star, Gussie Moran, the key challenge was to maintain the building's historic landmark status while providing a new interior functionality in its conversion into an office space. The renovated home and carriage house in the rear was outfitted with conference rooms featuring a mix of cozy fireplaces and high-tech plasma screens. 

In the late 1940s, Gussie made waves in tennis history by wearing ruffled bloomers under her tennis skirt at Wimbledon. Ruffles were Gussie's answer to the organization's rejection of her request to wear multi-colored tennis gear to the tournament. As a play on her creative defiance, the design unfolds a striated and colorful landscape in the front yard with rows of seasonal flowers. Ornamentation of a new gate and entry was inspired by the patterns of the tennis star's bloomers. The formerly dark-wood interior becomes illuminated with a white lacquer finish on the wainscot and trim. Flow from the main house to the carriage house were reconfigured with a celebrated pivoting door and a camouflaged entry wrapped in wood siding. A modern-frame pop-out window brings much needed light into the stair hall of the carriage house while providing views to the ocean.

Project completed while at Rios Clementi Hale Studios

(Project Architect 2004-2008)