US architect David Montalba invites us into his family home in Los Angeles
Designed for himself and his family, Montalba's LA home blends interior and exterior landscapes with Japanese architecture influences and a crisp, contemporary aesthetic
![SL2 house by Montalba daytime](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/iQLoBvFUatsFecAobqZNdN-415-80.jpg)
This three-level vertical home with a garden, tucked away in the Santa Monica Mountains on the west side of Los Angeles, was designed by David Montalba, founding principal of Montalba Architects. The modern structure merges indoors and outdoors living, and melds into the upscale urban yet leafy neighbourhood.
Montalba designed the residence – his own home, where he lives with his wife and two children – as two building masses with a connective bridge that peeks behind a secluded garden wall from the street side.
Having worked in the past on anything from commercial endeavours for Sony Music, to hospitality gems Little Beach House Malibu and retail concepts for Monique L'Huillier, the practice is well versed on a variety of scales and typologies, all executed in a clean, contemporary style. The Montalba home has a Japanese zen aesthetic that echoes the firm’s work with the Nobu Hotel Group. Open, transparent spaces are punctuated by open air moments, in a theme of enclosed landscape sliced by interiors.
When the ambitions were bigger than the lot space, and long views were on the wish list, the decision to build up was natural. ‘We had to transform and bring in natural light without taking up too much footprint and we’re being sensitive to not over-build on the lot so it’s scaled to the neighbourhood,' says Montalba
The process included looking to historic Japanese architecture, ‘They created moments within rather than relying on other things. Sometimes it’s not the buildings we create but the spaces we create that drive the architecture,' he explains. ‘The whole notion of that kind of simplicity and poetry along with the California tradition of courtyard homes drove this idea of the vertical courtyard that would inform and enlighten different levels in the house.'
The outdoor elements are extended from the main living space. ‘We don’t see any difference between the interior and exterior spaces, it’s all one,' he says. One of the home's most distinguished examples of this principle is the outdoor wooden bathtub in the upstairs master suite bathroom.
The home is thoughtfully adorned with an enviable blue-chip art collection that includes masterpieces from Ed Moses, to Keith Haring and a Frank Gehry sculpture – Montalba worked with Gehry on the Disney Concert Hall. His favorite piece is a large-scale handwoven loom over the cast-in-place hearth by Brent Wadden. The furnishings continue with midcentury modern style chairs in the basement family room that were originally designed as prototypes for the Bay Area Nobu Hotel, mixed with vintage pieces.
Throughout the interior, white oak adds warmth and a level of texture to crisp, architectural building features, such as sandblasted concrete walls and corrugated millwork by Wider SA of Switzerland. ‘He shares our level of craft in terms of details and created a corrugation that gave the wood an honesty that didn’t feel synthetic,' says Montalba.
Exterior teak sliding screens were installed for durability and privacy, ‘It’s a material that would give a sense of space on the skin of the building but also manage views to the neighbours,' he said.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Carole Dixon is a prolific lifestyle writer-editor currently based in Los Angeles. As a Wallpaper* contributor since 2004, she covers travel, architecture, art, fashion, food, design, beauty, and culture for the magazine and online, and was formerly the LA City editor for the Wallpaper* City Guides to Los Angeles.
-
Hamburg’s new food court Le Big TamTam offers traditional flavours in an irreverent setting
Le Big TamTam, designed by Studio Aisslinger, marks a new era in Hamburg’s hospitality-rich Hanse District
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Celebrating James Barnor, the photographer who captured pre- and post-colonial Ghana
Photographer James Barnor is in the spotlight at 95, his work the subject of a series of exhibitions and events in Ghana
By Ugonna-Ora Owoh Published
-
Hideaway House in London features timber panelling inspired by the New York hospitality scene
The elegantly refurbished Hideaway House by Studio McW in London features timber panelling inspired by the Four Seasons in New York
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
IM Pei's Everson Museum of Art gets a modern makeover
The East Wing of the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY has been given a contemporary refresh by emerging Los Angeles studio MILLIØNS
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Black Modernism’s lesser-known, at-risk architecture gems gain a lifeline
Conserving Black Modernism announces vital funding to save and preserve overlooked and endangered buildings by African American architects and designers
By Bridget Downing Published
-
Step into the Blanton Museum of Art's reimagined public realm by Snøhetta in Austin
Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas is completed and reveals its reimagined public realm and plaza designed by Snøhetta
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This New York Townhouse renovation is a lesson in contemporary minimalism
TenBerke’s carefully considered New York townhouse is the reimagining of a century-old Manhattan structure that reframes vertical living
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Visit The Frost House, a lesser-known modernist architecture marvel in Michigan City
The Frost House is a lesser-known midcentury architecture gem in Michigan City, Indiana; we took the tour as the property goes on the market
By Audrey Henderson Published
-
Broadway designer Scott Pask’s Arizona retreat is a scene-stealing discovery
Scott Pask invites us inside his Arizona retreat, nestled in the foothills overlooking Tucson – a place to reboot, recharge and commune with nature
By Michael Webb Published
-
Upstate New York retreat Ridge House evokes land art
Ridge House in upstate New York, the work of Brooklyn-based studio Worrell Yeung, is at one with the surrounding countryside
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Rafael de Cárdenas’ first ground-up project is a forever home with waterfront views and hidden treasures
Rafael de Cárdenas reveals his latest completed project in the Pacific Northwest, a family home of calming spaces that bleed the outside in, and ten years in the making
By Ellie Stathaki Published