Project Data:

Completion Date:     9/14/2018

Square Footage:      14000

Building Use:           Single Family Residence

Design Architect:      Paul McClean

Project Description:

High above Sunset Boulevard, the house was built on a sloping lot in a dense area with large homes located quite close to each other. The biggest challenge of the project was designing a home that would be shielded from its neighbors for privacy, while providing access to the light and views of Los Angeles available from the lot. The main concept for the project was to create a glass pavilion in the garden for living that would provide access to both the view and a more private space, allowing for walls of glass to open on both sides to capture prevailing breezes and provide a space that felt like a simple shelter and would be reminiscent of some of the homes built in Los Angeles over the last century. The upper level was placed perpendicular to the main floor to minimize the appearance of mass from the surrounding homes and provide space for a roof top deck.
The focal point of the exterior is a sinuous curving infinity edge pool that wraps the entire view side of the property, widening to incorporate a circular fire pit, which makes the most of the view. The form of the pool is generated by the site contours and the maximum height allowed above grade. The pool edge is pushed to the extremities of the lot in order to allow for more garden spaces, and to minimize the appearance of unsightly roofs below from the property.
The entry has a basalt rotunda that separates the house from the street and a two-story water wall spilling into a water garden. Upon passing through the rotunda to the water garden, the main living areas are revealed with the sliding walls of glass directly connecting the garden with the pool on the view side. The master bedroom is cantilevered above the garden, creating a covered patio space below. Exteriors and interior walls of the house are in marble or basalt which contrast with oak and grey limestone that soften the appearance of the project.