Rum Punch House, Los Angeles

Rum Punch House is a single-storey ranch-style home renovated in the Woodland Hills neighbourhood of Los Angeles. The owners, keen travellers, steered the project towards a Caribbean atmosphere, with vivid colours and a vocabulary borrowed from seaside construction.

The pool deck and the paths linking it to the house are laid in Kebony Clear boards. The client wanted a material that would grey naturally and evenly over time, with no finish to reapply. Kebony modified wood meets that brief: impregnated with a bio-based liquid, it gains dimensional stability and durability, then weathers to a silver-grey patina under ultraviolet light.

The dry, strongly sunlit climate of the San Fernando Valley, together with permanent proximity to pool water, justified a decking material that is little affected by moisture movement or heat build-up.