Set on a steeply angled site within the green and rural oasis of the leafy hillsides and canyon between Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades in California, this house was a challenge to design; but one that owners and architects Jeanne Chen and Bob Dolbinski of Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners welcomed, when they decided to buy the seemingly unbuildable plot in 2004.
The team was after a site for their own home when they came across the sloped piece of land in a part of America that is ‘rich in architectural heritage and rimmed by a number of Case Study homes including the iconic Eames house’, they explain. It took them a lengthy ten-year process to get through planning permissions, but now, the new home sits comfortably perched among nature, its sculptural form peeking pleasingly through the trees.
Arranged vertically, the house spans a little under 200 sq m.
The architects arranged the residence's programme vertically, working with the land's natural incline. The entrance, a studio, and car park sit at the top level; the main living spaces, including kitchen and dining space, as well as a covered porch are placed at mid-level; while the master and guest bedrooms with a shared common space are located on the floor below. Spanning a little under 200 sq m, the house feels open and comfortable, despite its fairly narrow footprint, in a masterful architectural slight of hand, rooted in a clever arrangement of levels and openings.
Every part of the house maintains a strong connection with its context, either via large glazed parts that open up to wide vistas, or outdoor areas in the form of gardens, the porch or a long deck wrapping around the lowest level.
Taking into account the environment in more ways that one, the architects employed passive environmental strategies throughout, naturally minimising heating and cooling loads, for example, and bringing together contemporary design and sustainability within a single, coherent and context-sensitive piece of architecture.
This Californian home is in constant dialogue with its hilly, leafy surroundings.
The plot was so steep, it was considered unbuildable, but the architects crafted a design that makes the most of the slope.
A living space looks out to long views of the canyon and opens up to a sheltered outside space.
Views out can be enjoyed from every part of the house.
The master bedroom is located at the structure's lowest level.
The entry, a studio (pictured here), and garage are situated at the top level.
INFORMATION
For more information visit the website of Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners
-
At Design Miami Paris, an artful menagerie tells a story of scent and natureVikram Goyal and Sissel Tolaas present ‘The Soul Garden’ at Design Miami Paris (until 26 October 2025), ‘a contemporary fable where the animals take new forms, reimagined for the world we live in today’
-
Check in at Aman Rosa Alpina, a modern Alpine cocoonSan Cassiano’s historic hotel has been reborn as a pared-back Aman refuge in the heart of the Dolomites
-
‘It’s really the workplace of the future’: inside JPMorganChase’s new Foster + Partners-designed HQThe bronze-clad skyscraper at 270 Park Avenue is filled with imaginative engineering and amenities alike. Here’s a look inside
-
Explore Tom Kundig’s unusual houses, from studios on wheels to cabins slotted into bouldersThe American architect’s entire residential portfolio is the subject of a comprehensive new book, ‘Tom Kundig: Complete Houses’
-
Ballman Khaplova creates a light-filled artist’s studio in upstate New YorkThis modest artist’s studio provides a creative with an atelier and office in the grounds of an old farmhouse, embedding her practice in the surrounding landscape
-
The most important works of modernist landscape architecture in the USModernist landscapes quite literally grew alongside the modern architecture movement. Field specialist and advocate Charles A. Birnbaum takes us on a tour of some of the finest examples
-
Jeanne Gang’s single malt whisky decanter offers a balance ‘between utility and beauty’The architect’s whisky decanter, 'Artistry in Oak', brings a sculptural dimension to Gordon & MacPhail's single malt
-
An idyllic slice of midcentury design, the 1954 Norton House has gone on the marketNorton House in Pasadena, carefully crafted around its sloping site by Buff, Straub & Hensman, embodies the Californian ideal of the suburban modern house embedded within a private landscape
-
Herzog & de Meuron and Piet Oudolf unveil Calder Gardens in PhiladelphiaThe new cultural landmark presents Alexander Calder’s work in dialogue with nature and architecture, alongside the release of Jacques Herzog’s 'Sketches & Notes'. Ellie Stathaki interviews Herzog about the project.
-
Meet Studio Zewde, the Harlem practice that's creating landscapes 'rooted in cultural narratives, ecology and memory'Ahead of a string of prestigious project openings, we check in with firm founder Sara Zewde
-
The best of California desert architecture, from midcentury gems to mirrored dwellingsWhile architecture has long employed strategies to cool buildings in arid environments, California desert architecture developed its own distinct identity –giving rise, notably, to a wave of iconic midcentury designs
