Meet the Parents-now

A global citizen who was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and lived in Paris, New York, and Tehran before earning degrees at Texas A&M University and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Monti says he was "interested in dressing up the ubiquitous stucco box," bringing a whole new vocabulary to a part of Venice dense with 1920's bungalows. So, mouse a-clicking, he digitally designed a distinctive Cor-Ten steel scrim that's at once tough and lacy, whimsically artistic and no-nonsense functional as it wraps the house's upper level. Some of the steel panels are left intact; others, primarily in front of bedroom and bathroom windows, are perforated in varying patterns of circles to bring sunlight in but keep neighbors' eyes out. Accordion-style folds in the scrim bring dimension to the facade in addition to texture and the metal's characteristic rusty color. Pragmatically, the folds also increase the rigidity of the scrim.

Its perforations makes their presence felt inside, too, most pervasively with the play of light and shadow. "Depending on the angle of the sun, rooms upstairs seem to change throughout the year," he explains. Then there's a more tangible manifestation. Left with 3,000 round steel cutouts of different sizes, he presented boxes of the disks to a metalworker with the directive to weld them together into 3-by-5-foot panels, compositions of circles and gaps. The welding process was completely organic-no templates, no drawings-and the panels it yielded now form the balustrade for the staircase and the upstairs landing, creating a positive-negative relationship with the scrim outside.

And that's just one aspect of Monti's conservationist bent. He designed and built the house with LEED Silver certifi­cation in mind. (He's still awaiting word.) Daylighting and natural ventilation rule in the public spaces, thanks to the glass sliders and the long skylights. The energy-efficient insulation, the drought-tolerant landscaping, and the recycling of 70 percent of construction waste likewise contributed to the effort. Reduce, reuse, recycle. The first part of that mantra is embodied by the house's limited materials palette as well. Ground-level flooring is radiant-heated concrete, mostly bare. Walnut is everywhere: cabinets that stretch down a sidewall from the front entry through the kitchen, the staircase, and the flooring on the second level, the pair of bathrooms included. Their walls are clad in restrained honed marble or basic subway tile.

Two of Monti's designer pals helped with the furnishings. Sarita Singh chose all the beds and bedside tables, the dining area's walnut Parsons table and white shell chairs, the living area's chunky leather-covered ottoman, substantial enamel-topped cocktail table, and hefty chairs and sofa, good for kids to jump on. Kenna Ryman advised on rugs, lamps, and pillows everywhere, plus bedding and outdoor furniture. Monti needed no assistance, how­ever, in accessorizing the two-car garage. Its chocolate-brown stucco exterior all but disappears in relation to the front facade's Cor-Ten steel and sparkling glass. Until the door rolls up to reveal a 1964 Porsche 356 and a 1972 Alfa Romeo Giulia.