Too Tall : View Would Be Fantastic From Home on Ridge, but Foes See a 7-Story Eyesore

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a view of the Valley.

But Jack and Jill Gillett have been sent tumbling back down by Los Angeles city officials who contend that the 70-foot-tall house the couple wants to build on the hill is too tall to comply with a new slope-protection ordinance.

Officials want the couple’s dream home--dubbed “Jack and Jill’s House on a Hill” on plans submitted to the city--scaled down. The requested redesign marks the first test of the year-old ordinance.

The Gilletts’ ridgetop site boasts a commanding view of Woodland Hills, Calabasas and West Hills. Their proposed $400,000 dream house would capture that view from nearly every room.

Hundreds of similar houses are perched atop steel supporting legs on virtually every ridge and slope between Studio City and Woodland Hills.

The Gilletts say the steepness of their lot forces them to build a tall house. Nearly half of the proposed structure’s height would be created by the enclosed steel beams that would be embedded in the steep slope beneath it.

The couple has spent two years with architects to design the three-level, 4,600-square-foot structure. Because their lot in the 5000 block of Cerrillos Drive drops off so abruptly, the four-bedroom home can only be about 25 feet wide, its architects say.

Opponents of the house contend it will resemble a seven-story building once it is finished and its support columns are covered with wood and stucco.

‘An Extremely Large House’

“It is over-height,” said Brad Rosenheim, a deputy to Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude. “I don’t know if the word ‘obnoxious’ is too strong. But this is an extremely large house.”

Gordon Murley, president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, said his group fears the Gillett home will start a trend. The residence would be the first home built on an undeveloped portion of “Hazard Hill” on the west side of Topanga Canyon Boulevard, about a mile south of the Ventura Freeway.

“There’s no way you’re going to mitigate the ugliness of the back side of the house,” Murley said. “One house we could maybe live with. But this is going to become a wall of ugliness when others are built.”

Jon Perica, city zoning administrator, has told the Gilletts and their architects to redesign the house with an eye toward compromising with opponents. Today, they are scheduled to meet with Rosenheim and Murley to discuss the changes. Perica is expected to rule on the building request next month.

Architect Howard W. Lichtman said plenty of attention has been paid to the height of the house and to its huge back side.

“This is not a typical tract house,” Lichtman said of the height. “It is a series of steppings. You’re not looking at a straight wall.”

Initial plans for the house showed 50 windows in its rear side. A balcony extended across part of it, partially wrapping around one corner of its irregularly shaped rear.

Gillett said Lichtman has modified the plans and switched several rooms around since an initial meeting with Perica, Rosenheim and Murley 12 days ago. He said the changes will help soften the expanse of rear wall.

Gillett said he and Jill Gillett, publisher of Exhibit Builder magazine, studied other homes built on steep hillsides in the area.

“When we bought the property 4 1/2 years ago and started this project, this new law wasn’t in effect,” said Gillett, a projection systems designer for Walt Disney Imagineering.

Height Bonus

At today’s meeting, Gillett said he intends to show that the city’s year-old slope-density ordinance actually entitles him to build a 57-foot-tall structure. The angle of the slope on his lot gives him a 12-foot height bonus, he said.

Meantime, Gillett’s architects have modified the plan for the house, reducing the height to about 65 feet, he said.

Unlike other large homes recently built on steep lots in Woodland Hills, his will not be boxy and ugly, he said. Nor will it be built by a speculator hoping to sell it quickly for a huge profit.

“This is going to be where we live for 30 years,” he said.

“We don’t want something that will stick out like a sore thumb.”