A new single storey home, set within a steeply sloping site in northern Los Angeles.
The brief
Our clients wanted a house that would feel like a retreat but also work well as an everyday family home, on a steep hillside with sweeping views across Los Angeles.
The design
The whole house is on a single level, with the living spaces, bedrooms and service areas all on one floor. This makes daily life easy and the house fully accessible, avoids unnecessary stairs, and means far less of the hillside needs to be dug away, so the house sits lightly on the land and is less visible from below.
Each room is placed to make the most of daylight and the views, especially the main living space and the principal suite, while the other bedrooms are set back for privacy. Glass is used generously but selectively, so every main room has a framed view without losing a sense of shelter.
Living outdoors
Large openings lead from the living and dining spaces onto terraces and decks overlooking the hillside, adding outdoor rooms suited to the warm Los Angeles climate. Native planting helps to hold the slope and blend the house into its surroundings. The house is turned to catch the breeze, and deep roof overhangs give shade, so it relies far less on air conditioning.
The result
A calm, private home that makes the most of its dramatic setting, combining the openness of Californian living with the care over detail that runs through all our work.
