Tower Grove Drive

Situated on a hillside property on a southern flank of the Santa Monica Mountains, Tower Grove rises high above to capture breathtaking and privileged views of Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean beyond. Marrying the client's vision of environmentally-conscious living to this context prompted a design approach that was both simple and honest. Seek to be environmentally conscious in the design and responsible towards the future prosperity of the site. As a result, integrated architecture, interior, and landscape design were conceived to best leverage the property's relationship to its environmental context thru several concepts such as solar and shade orientation, wind and natural ventilation, and careful integration to the native geology of the site.

As a built manifestation, the home is "village like" in it's massing, in deference to living on a modest scale. The outlying vistas are drawn into the interior of the house as much as possible thru the integration of floor to ceiling glass walls and operable doors systems. Materially, the home is natural and sustainable in its specification of materials and engineering systems.  Stained wood, low-energy dual glazing systems, recyclable materials, and native planting are used where appropriate.

This home seeks to be a hillside retreat, engaged in and respectful of nature, where harmony is created through the balance between openness and seclusion, understatement and elegance, modernity and warmth, permanence and levity. It is at once a peaceful retreat and a stimulating creative environment, a timeless indoor-outdoor setting with hints of unpredictability at the heart of its character.