Ain-Matson house

Emily Ain, daughter of famed architect Gregory Ain, and her husband, architect James Matson, inside their home. They have recently redone the landscaping themselves, and have spent several years renovating the interiors.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Cactus and drought-tolerant plants line the front yard.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Plantings.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

After removing an overabundance of vegetation in the back, Ain says, “we were surprised to see a house next door, like a mother with a child on her hip, the house was so close.” Creating a more modest separation for privacy and adding a water feature to the courtyard became another project.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The back courtyard.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Water flows into a small pool in the back courtyard.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Emily Ain holds a cat inside her Midcentury home near Beverly Hills.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

They reconfigured the kitchen by removing the breakfast nook. It is a now a sitting room where Ain’s book club, which she has belonged to for 18 years, meets.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

On the other end of the kitchen, spaces were combined for a washroom. Ain designed a canted wall for the kitchen, along with a canted wall on the exterior facade.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The dining area leading to the back courtyard.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The master bedroom and walk-in closet.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Emily Ain is reflected in a mirror inside her master bedroom closet.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Emily Ain and James Matson.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The master bathroom.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

A light fixture inside a downstairs bathroom.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Husband and wife Emily Ain and James Matson seated in a nook just off the dining room and kitchen, behind an original kinetic sculpture.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Inside the main living area and dining room.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The leaky louvered windows were replaced with large panels of glass. The soffit in the main room was cleared and the lighting restored.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

A view of the dining room leading to a nook.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Designer Emily Ain and architect James Matson have been at work on their Modernist house in Beverly Crest for 17 years.   (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)