Step On Up
Step On Up
Building on a steep Laguna Beach hillside is a negotiation with gravity; living there is a pilgrimage. Nestled into the contours above Lookout Drive, Step On Up transforms a steep elevation gain into an unfolding spatial journey, a deliberate ascent from the street into a light-filled coastal sanctuary.
The experience begins at the curb, where floating concrete stairs rise alongside the driveway, leaving the road behind. At the mid-level landing, a cantilevered cedar canopy marks the entry, withholding the ocean view to heighten anticipation. Inside, a vertical spine of wood, steel, and stone leads upward beneath skylights that channel coastal daylight through the heart of the home.
At the summit, the architecture opens into a glass living pavilion beneath a levitating slatted ceiling. Pocketing glass doors erase the line between travertine floors and the Pacific horizon. On the main deck, a cantilevered pool floats over the hillside, suspended directly above where the journey began. Overhead, a circular Sun Oculus carved into the canopy tethers the home to the sky, casting a ring of sunlight across the water, completing an ascent that leaves you elevated physically and spiritually.
2026 AIAOC Design Award for Outstanding Design
The Entry Pilgrimage: Floating concrete stairs and a steep driveway transition visitors from the street level up toward the private mid-level entry landing.
The Vertical Light Spine: An open circulation staircase framed in wood, steel, and glass, illuminated by modular Velux skylights channeling coastal sunlight.
The Cantilevered Canopy: A deep cedar overhang shields the main entrance and purposefully conceals the ocean panorama to heighten spatial arrival.
The Levitating Pavilion: An upper-level living space wrapped in pocketing glass doors beneath a continuous slatted timber ceiling.
The Cantilevered Pool & Sun Oculus: An infinity-edge pool suspended over the driveway below, illuminated from above by a circular canopy oculus tracking the movement of the sun.
