This oasis-like home, constructed in 1976, is an enthusiastic exercise in Eastern-influenced modernism. Conrad Buff III and Donald Hensman, its architects, were students of Greene and Greene—the illustrious firm that has been credited with California’s introduction to the Arts and Crafts movement. Here, in Pasadena, Buff and Hensman have embraced a Japanese aesthetic and their warm brand of modernism.

The homeowners collaborated with Caroline Feiffer, the interior designer, to decorate—and soften—the interiors. Caroline contributed plush and other elements to create a sense of comfort that wouldn’t emasculate the architecture (and the furniture). Caroline has a very natural approach and she added organic forms and materials to contrast the symmetry of Buff and Hensman's linear layout of the house. 

The interiors are fashioned from redwood (with the “tongue and groove” method), featuring oakwood floors and teakwood details. The structure and the exterior have a slight roughness, and the millwork is smooth and refined.The woods and the different finishes create a hierarchy together in a way that the many warm surfaces are differentiated and each serves its own tactile and functional role.

The house is covered in various types of wood—from the redwood walls to the oakwood floors. Caroline Feiffer, the interior decorator, introduced comfortable elements (like the cushions and pillows pictured here) that would complement this aesthetic.The Japanese-style gardens have been maintained since the house was constructed.