Los Angeles architecture studio Woods + Dangaran has crafted an idyllic hillside home, nestled into one of the city’s famous green slopes. Set in Trousdale Estates, Carla Ridge Residence embodies the spirit of Los Angeles living, bringing together an urbane lifestyle with long views, open spaces and an architecture that merges indoors and outdoors while nodding to classic modernism.
Spanning a generous 9,800 sq ft and five bedrooms, and created for a local developer, the house is expansive. This is also a design that is completely in tune with its surroundings, combining a flowing open-plan interior for its communal spaces, with an aray of ourdoor areas. There are courtyards, paved terraces, sheltered open-air pathways, architectural gardens and a striking, double infinity-edge swimming pool with views east to downtown Los Angeles and west to the Pacific Ocean. ‘The visitor experience is carefully choreographed,’ says the team.
Carla Ridge Residence is arranged within two ‘pavilions’ occupying slightly different levels, but placed parallel to each other. They are united by a courtyard and an enclosed part that contains the house’s main staircase – this feels more like a gallery to sit and admire the Los Angeles skyline than a circulation core. The section that is placed closer to the views hosts the main living areas, a large open plan arrangement that makes for the perfect entertaining space. The second ‘pavilion’ houses the en suite bedrooms and a family room. An outdoor staircase made of tactile board-formed concrete leads the visitor up to the roof terrace of the front pavilion, adding to the range of al fresco options on site.
Inside, the materiality remains in tune with its context, as the architects prioritised natural, subtly luxurious materials that nod to the modernist architecture Los Angeles is so well known for. ‘The finish materials enhance the timeless quality of the design with teak casework and wall panelling, travertine floor slabs, and board-formed concrete walls in the atrium,’ they explain. Timber, dark accents, concrete, and low, pronounced overhangs, make for a powerful, yet discreet presence that allows the context and views to take centre stage. §
