This birdlike house is located on a hillside overlooking the ocean in Southern California. The architect is Tom Kundig, who describes the house as ‘’ a small building that landed lightly on the landscape’’. Kundig is familiar with breathtaking scenery — many of his houses sites where nature played a big role in the design — but as he says, “I just about fainted” when he first saw the land these clients had bought.

The house is shaped like a T. There is 100-foot-long entryway flanked by two guest rooms and a garage, leads to a glass-and-steel box that contains the living and dining area and the master bedroom.

The pool is directly in line with the living room and is partly shaded by the flaring roof that covers this end of the house.

By covering the front door and hallway, the roof’s “tail” protects the house from the sun, channels prevailing breezes to minimize the need for air-conditioning and can collect rainwater as well.