California round house is tucked away in Los Altos Hills
Feldman Architecture unveils the redesign of a classic 1960s round house, a circular home surrounded by foliage in Los Altos Hills, California

Perched idyllically on a leafy slope in California's Los Altos Hills, Round House is a 1960s family home that has been recently redesigned by San Francisco studio Feldman Architecture. As its name suggests, this is a circular home – but one that does not feel harsh and parachuted into its green environs; rather, its soft curves and timber cladding make it a pleasing addition to its verdant and sparely built, hilly context. At the same time, the design effortlessly extends out to the landscape, bringing the views in at every turn.
‘The aptly named Round House is a geometrically unique structure; one of a few similarly shaped homes built in California in the 1960s,’ say the architects. ‘The clients fell in love with this quirky circular house and initially planned a modest remodel. Soon after moving in, the pair recognised the inefficiencies of their new home – low window eaves curiously obstructed the otherwise spectacular views, spurring their desire to open and modernise the design. Our team set out to craft a respectful enrichment of the home’s original form, focusing on a site-sensitive response to the steep, challenging plot.'
The transformation included the closing of an original central, open-air courtyard into a distinctive circular kitchen – a centrepiece of the new design – as the client is a family of food enthusiasts. A skylight above the round kitchen island lets daylight flood the space.
Around this both literal and figurative heart of the home, all the other rooms fan out – from an open-plan living space that spills out to a large terrace for al fresco dining, to Round House’s four en suite bedrooms. A decked walkway that cantilevers out over the mature trees encircles the home, connecting the different rooms from the outside and offering long views, including some of the South Bay beyond the city.
While the house is fit for the 21st century and contains all mod-cons, the architects opted for a fairly streamlined, minimalist architecture aesthetic of light tones in a restricted palette of colours and materials. Clean white walls inside are matched by darker joinery and Japanese-style shou sugi ban charred wood siding externally. Due to the Round House's geometry, many things that would normally have been off-the-shelf products needed a bespoke approach. But that was an exciting challenge, the architects explain: ‘Most conventional solutions favour straight geometry, which made for a refreshing intervention that is an honest response to the constraints of this unique project.'
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Re-style the source of your favourite sounds with the new Bang & Olufsen Atelier service
Bang & Olufsen Atelier brings macro-level colour and material customisation to the Danish manufacturer’s wide range of hi-fidelity devices. We delve into the sample drawer
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Rétromobile revisits some of the icons of car design, along with their modern descendants
We tour the halls of Rétromobile Paris 2025 and take in remastered automotive classics, futuristic record-breakers and mighty monographs
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Designer Danny Kaplan’s Manhattan showroom is also his apartment: the live-work space reimagined
Danny Kaplan’s Manhattan apartment is an extension of his new showroom, itself laid out like a home; he invites us in, including a first look at his private quarters
By Diana Budds Published
-
A wavy roof tops this Accessory Dwelling Unit's cabin-like form: all miniature charm
This Californian Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) by Spiegel Aihara Workshop (SAW), offers an aesthetic and functional answer to housing shortages and multigenerational family living
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Palm Springs Modernism Week 2025: let the desert architecture party begin
Palm Springs Modernism Week 2025 launches on 13 February, marking the popular annual desert event’s 20th anniversary, celebrated this year through more midcentury marvels than ever
By Carole Dixon Published
-
On the shores of Discovery Bay, this wooden house is the ultimate waterside retreat
Dekleva Gregorič’s Discovery Bay House is a structured yet organic shelter that blends perfectly into the surrounding Pacific Northwest landscape
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
The 10 emerging American Midwest architects you need to know
We profile 10 emerging American Midwest architects shaking up the world of architecture - in their territory, and beyond
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A light-filled New York loft renovation magics up extra space in a deceptively sized home
This New York loft renovation by local practice BOND is now a warm and welcoming apartment that feels more spacious than it actually is
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
Inside Bell Labs, the modernist vision behind Severance's minimalist setting
We explore the history of Bell Labs - now known as Bell Works - the modernist Eero Saarinen-designed facility in New Jersey, which inspired the dystopian minimalist setting of 'Severance'
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Zaha Hadid Architects’ new project will be Miami’s priciest condo
Construction has commenced at The Delmore, an oceanfront condominium from the firm founded by the late Zaha Hadid, ZHA
By Anna Solomon Published
-
A West Austin house invites you to commune with nature
Westview Residence by Alterstudio, a West Austin house among trees, makes the most of large windows and open-air decks in a verdant setting
By Ellie Stathaki Published