Dwell's second annual Open House: Los Angeles tours on October 18 featured a simple remodel, a renovated mid-century cabin, and a hillside home with inspired gazebos, proving that Southern California living is like no other—and the residences we featured all exemplify different ways a home can interact with Los Angeles' unique landscape. The day-long event gave 350 design fans the opportunity to tour some of the city's most architecturally innovative homes and meet the architects, designers, landscape architects and homeowners who created them, each with an appreciation for the unique conditions of their sites.
Hollyhock House
The crowning jewel of Barnsdall Art Park in East Hollywood, Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House, was the starting point of the tour. The flowers that gave the house its name (which were among client Aline Barnsdall's favorite flowers) are everywhere—whether they're abstracted in the house's furniture, windows, and frieze, or blooming on the grounds. A new garden of native plants by landscape architecture firm Terremoto and an exhibit of photos of the property by Janna Ireland make it clear that Wright's design, his first commission in Los Angeles and the city's only UNESCO World Heritage Site, is as vibrant as ever.
Dwell Open House: Los Angeles began at Barnsdall Art Park in East Hollywood, where ticket holders picked up tote bags containing route maps and toured the Hollyhock House before making their way to the other three houses.
Designer Oscar Chang stands next to his Stratum chair. The design won our Best Seat in the House competition and is produced by Vesta Home.
Frank Lloyd Wright designed furniture, a carpet and art glass windows for the Hollyhock House, which Aline Barnsdall donated to the city of Los Angeles in 1927 along with nearly 30 acres.
The temple-like house was influenced by pre-Columbian architecture, particularly Mayan and Aztec styles, although some have also described it as Asian or Egyptian. Wright once described the style as “California Romanza.”
Descanso House
Surrounded by fragrant plants that Terremoto selected to harmonize with the existing orange, fig and lemon trees, Australian architect Richard Stampton's home in Silver Lake is a testament to the notion that context is everything. After finding a tiny 1920s home (and barely touched since), Stampton kept the original floor plan and carried out a renovation down to the last detail that's more whisper than shout. By embellishing the kitchen and bathroom with pink marble and painting the high ceilings in shades of yellow, Stampton brought in the colors of Southern California sunrises and sunsets.
Architect Richard Stampton (left) welcomes visitors to the garden, designed by Terremoto with native and drought-tolerant plants. Motorized Warema parasols made of anodized aluminum ensure that the house stays cool.
Stampton shared images of the existing home, which was built in the 1920s and featured a speakeasy bar on the lower level.
Stampton used three shades of yellow to give the light-filled interiors a golden glow.
Slabs of pink marble warm the kitchen, which is open to the living area. Stampton worked with Paul Valentine, who curated the furniture, including pieces by Shin Okuda and Kristin Dickson-Okuda.
Pink marble reappears in the guest bathroom, where Stampton designed and prototyped the door and cabinet handles.
Lark House
Looking for a “tiny house on a big lot” that they could build themselves, designer Kathryn McCullough and her husband Andrew Bulbrook found an 850-square-foot Mount Washington cabin designed by architect Kemper Nomland Jr. and built in 1955. Working closely with Taalman Architecture and Terremoto, the couple nearly doubled the size of the home, added a detached ADU, and created an outdoor living area and pool. Now a journey through the hillside house oscillates seamlessly between interior and exterior spaces as well as past and present. “The idea,” says Andrew, “was to use the new to illuminate the old.”
Tucked away on a site on the slopes of Mount Washington, the Lark House is surrounded by trees and new landscaping by Terremoto.
A round porthole is a remnant of the original cabin, designed by architect Kemper Nomland Jr. and built in 1955.
Architect Linda Taalman and designer and homeowner Kathryn McCullough worked together to carry the materiality and feel of the original wood-frame, post-and-beam cabin into the additions and ADU.
Linda Taalman (right) talks to visitors in the dining room, which leads to a large terrace overlooking the new pool.
San Marino House
The owners of a 1954 Calvin Straub home in San Marino originally turned to Alice Fung and Michael Blatt of Fung + Blatt Architects to design a ceramics studio. But over the course of five years, the architects did much more: They carefully modernized the home and designed additional pavilions for the 1.4-acre property that reflect the home's Japanese-inspired lines, including a pool house complex with an outdoor kitchen, a guest house, and an art studio/library. According to Fung, the goal was for the buildings to remain “respectful of the landscape,” a philosophy championed by the team at Elysian Landscapes, who came in later and designed several terraces, green roofs and much of the garden.
In San Marino, Fung + Blatt Architects modernized an estate with a midcentury home originally designed by Calvin Straub. In addition to renovating the main house pictured here, the company added a series of pavilions to the landscape.
Architect Alice Fung (right) welcomes visitors in the dining room next to a model of the property.
The architects opened up the kitchen to make it a hub for family life and entertaining.
The pool house is located in a multi-story complex and opens onto a spacious terrace with an outdoor kitchen. There is a spa and gym on the lower floor.
In addition to the tours, Dwell Open House attendees took home a gift bag containing an exclusive event publication, the latest issue of Dwell, and goodies from our sponsors.