Contemporary Craft: These Modern Designs Feature Natural Roots, Innovative Spaces and Advanced Technology
“As California Goes, so Goes the Nation,” says the adage, originally applied to the state’s progressive political positions - but the phrase could just as easily shift to style, where the state, especially along its prosperous coastline, where some of the best architects, interior and exterior designers, furniture-makers, and other home suppliers have almost free rein to practice their craft. From hilltop plots of land with jetliner views to cove-adjacent hideaways near the rocky shoreline, the land itself in Los Angeles begs to be dotted by landmark homes. The best of these residences, like 1027 Cove Way, pictured, effortlessly exude on-trend design with evergreen craftsmanship and create a blueprint for home design across the country and world. Here, selected, recently completed projects that exemplify contemporary Southern California style, along with some insights from the designers who worked tirelessly to bring them into being.
UNPRECEDENTED ARTISTIC VISION
Upon entrance to the Encino home dubbed ŌNIN, visitors find themselves looking up and through the impressive “butterfly pavilion” behind the 12-foot-tall entry door. The impressive installation of marble, light and air welcomes people into the home and gives a clue as to what lies ahead - bold, uncommon choices in construction materials, layouts and methodology making the structure less utilitarian function and closer to livable art installation. Jae Omar’s sweeping design for the home features touches like narrow oak screening that camouflages rooms and doorways, lending to it a sense of mystery, like a 4,500-pound boulder functioning as a vanity. All of these bold, artistic choices combined with a true sanctuary feel as the home blends seamlessly into its surroundings create a point-of-place reminiscent of the Japanese era of influence for which the home is named and a way of wandering endlessly through a functional sculpture.
Similarly, Michael Chen’s Elementi, a landmark Trousdale Estates enclave, features wild design elements that would be out of place anywhere but in a home of this caliber. Among the highlights are a 150-year-old olive tree as a centerpiece in the home, bookmatched white marble cladding the entire bathroom, and a tiered, lush, multiple pool and waterfall design that’s less Beverly Hills and more hanging gardens of Babylon. With 18,000 square feet of thought-provoking design throughout, it’s no wonder the home is among the most exclusive on the market in Los Angeles.
West Hollywood architectural firm Tag Front, well-known for their hospitality and residential designs, created standout Hazen II, which blends contemporary design with touches of beauty. Its multilevel environs blend into natural surroundings while the ultra-modern finishes create a futuristic look and feel. The sauna/steam room offers a spa-like getaway, with floor-to-ceiling glass partition walls adding depth and airiness to the room.
STARTING NATURALLY AND SUSTAINABLY
Concepts of modern sustainability got a large start in Southern California - not just because of progressive politicking and landmark legislation, but also in an effort to maintain the natural beauty of the region’s soaring peaks, deep blue ocean, and finely honed natural/urban balance. It’s within this balance that 1274 Lago Vista Drive exists - nestled on a crest, the stately and large home is still dwarfed by the natural, mature evergreens surrounding the front of the property and by the sweeping Los Angeles basin view below its tiered rear. More nestled into the land than placed upon it, the home blends itself into its surroundings, creating a natural sanctuary. With lush landscaping planted beyond the infinity-edge pool, the design team planned for the future by bolstering the hillside with a living, water-tolerant forest.
New constructions are also taking sustainable materials directly to their bones - beginning with less damaging materials in framing, innovative surfaces to cover floors and walls, and energy and cost-saving technologies built directly into the home. In the expansive 1460 Laurel Way property in Beverly Crest, the grounds take advantage of natural light, long-lasting stone materials, and next-generation heating and cooling features to keep the home comfortable and take advantage of the often-perfect cool mornings and warm days of its hillside locale. In fact, almost every room in the home takes advantage of its promontory vista by offering floor-to-ceiling windows, large outdoor patios, and minimal architectural elements to block sightlines, allowing for an unbroken view.
1700 Mandeville Canyon Road features a beautiful, tiered garden path and a huge yard with a twist - the grounds are loaded with sustainable, drought-tolerant species. From perfect specimen trees to a flowing lawn of seagrass, the surroundings of the mid-century home are at once gorgeous and long lived, able to grow responsibly with the home.
LIVING INSIDE THE SMART HOME
Beyond simple voice-control or a video doorbell, today’s luxurious homes are appointed with smart technologies by design, forming the backbone of the home rather than simply a clumsy addition. From the planning stages, modern architects and interior designers are thinking both about how technologies of today can be best utilized to create harmony in the home and how the innovations of tomorrow can be integrated seamlessly into the structure and lifestyle of the owner. With a vibe feeling more like a command center than a smartphone app, the modern integrated home works with itself to optimize things like temperature control, lighting, and other environmental factors automatically, even in uncommon rooms like the bathoom, as seen in 1460 Laurel Way. Auto-darkening window panels can “learn” when light is streaming through in the summer and become opaque and allow a beautiful morning to shine through when it is cooler.
Beverly Hills’ new-construction Hazen II features the latest in home automation, with Control4 system optimizing climate, lighting and even the next-generation Lutron smart window shades, which can be programmed to block or allow sunlight day-to-day and seasonally. Bel Air’s 10932 Savona Road features a whole house speaker system. While such technology isn’t entirely new, the Savona Road property has innovatively designed the sound sources to exist within the walls, completely invisible. The only way they are noticeable is when beautiful sounds fill the entire home.
Smart integration is also increasingly appearing in modern kitchen design. The Pendry Residences in West Hollywood, each luxurious kitchen designed by Martin Brudunzki, is equipped with the latest, professional-grade appliances, including selections from Sub-Zero, Wolf and Cove, all designed to integrate fully into each home and provide an elevated culinary experience.
As electric vehicles become increasingly adopted, the technology to charge them at home is becoming increasingly common as well. Beyond an outdoor extension cord, the modern car charger functions as both a smart-equipped charging system to prolong the life of the vehicle’s batteries but also, in many cases, as a backup battery system which can power the home and keep the essentials on during a blackout or other unforeseen power loss. Combining these technologies with the art and design of the modern statement home makes the residence as functional as it is beautiful.
AN UNPRECEDENTED INDOOR/ OUTDOOR EXPERIENCE
In an environment of 284 sunshine-soaked days yearly in Los Angeles, it’s no wonder that even the most modest of homes are built with light gathering features, outdoor spaces or rooftop decks. Among modern landmark properties, this ethos is taken to its natural extreme to create astonishing and lush gardens, water features and a seamless transition from the home’s indoor spaces to the outside world, whether for a stroll in the morning to enjoy a cup of coffee or to throw a classy soiree.
9344 Nightingale Drive epitomizes this design element while utilizing cutting-edge technology to create a truly convertible space. The 60-foot retractable skylight, coupled with an entire wall of automated sliding panels, lets the beautiful Mid-Century-inspired space feel like it is a part of the outdoors with all the creature comforts of home. Similarly, at 2600 Hutton Drive, walls of glass give way to meandering, shade-covered patio spaces and the beautiful pool feature, leaving the visitor or owner never far from a peaceful morning or a late-night dip in the cool water.