Nestled into Santa Monica Canyon, this residence seamlessly fits into its wooded locale while serving as a backdrop for a world-class art collection.
Los Angeles, United States, 2020-05-20 –
Organic architecture experts Kristopher Conner and James Perry of Conner + Perry Architects were commissioned by a deeply-rooted Los Angeles couple to design a home that seamlessly fits their family and lifestyle, while also showcasing a world-class art collection and effortlessly blending into a beloved section of Santa Monica Canyon.Taking cues from the property’s surrounding Oak and Eucalyptus trees, the firm designed a residence that allows for reflection, openness, and serenity. Key design features include windows that frame the magnificent trees, extended canopy-like, cantilevered eaves, and fully pocketing glass exterior walls that open to a central courtyard to offer the perfect balance of indoor-outdoor living. Every view in the house was designed to captivate with either nature or art. Initial plans by John Lautner protégé, architect Duncan Nicholson, set the stage for Kris and James, formerly with Nicholson’s office, to complete and enhance the project, despite his untimely passing.Given their love for the neighborhood and its majestic trees, the clients sought to repurpose the felled Eucalyptus wood found on the property into outdoor furniture and key elements within the house, including the grand entry doors. In keeping, exterior materials for the new home were selected for their organic nature, ability to age in place, and compatibility with the climate, such as charred wood siding (Shou Sugi Ban), copper, exposed steel, and concrete. Interior materials were chosen to reflect the nature outside, including a mix of massangis grey limestone and french oak for the flooring, weathered brass, blackened steel elements, and a variety of marbles and tiles, including art tiles by Lubna Chowdhary.
For the clients, who both grew up in the neighborhood, the chance to collaborate on the design process and build a space for their impressive art collection was a dream. For Conner + Perry, the home represents exactly what the clients were seeking — a quintessential California indoor/outdoor experience where everything feels open and unified.
“Each of them has described the house as having a magical or mystical quality, allowing light in at the right moments, as well as the shadows of the trees, and a calming mirroring effect,” says principal, Kristopher Conner.
Technical sheet
Architects: Conner and James Perry, Conner + Perry Architects
Interior Designers: Olivia Williams, Olivia Williams Interior Design and Matthew Merrell, Merrell Design Co.
Builder: Michael Robinson, RAM Development and Construction Company, Inc. and Dick Minium, Dick Minium Construction
Landscape Architecture: Case Fleher, Landscape Workspace
About Conner + Perry Architects
Conner + Perry Architects was founded in 2015 in Santa Monica, California by partners Kristopher Conner and James Perry, who came together while working with Architect Duncan Nicholson. There they both were trained in the philosophy and tradition of Organic Architecture as it was taught to Duncan by a world-renowned master of modern Architecture, John Lautner. The legacy of this architecture can be traced back through Lautner to his predecessors, Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan. Conner + Perry Architects strives to bring this philosophy of design to bear on a contemporary practice that addresses the challenges and concerns of today’s clientele and marketplace while maintaining a sense of timelessness that is inherent in an architecture that is at once unique, profound, and useful.
For more information
Media contact
- Design Agency Co
- Erin Cullerton
- [email protected]
- 323.522.6391
Source: V2 Newswire
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
In the home’s generous entryway, glass and steel frame and support the floating French Oak stairway. Views continue unobstructed through the entire space out to the canyon beyond.
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Featuring a large Gus Van Sant watercolor, this central space, with fully pocketing glass and aluminum sliding doors, opens directly to the pool courtyard.
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Landscape designer, Case Fleher, introduced lush plantings that reflect the vibe of the canyon, blending native species along with impressive specimens found on the original site, such as the Chamaerops seen on the right side of the picture.
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Interior designers Olivia Williams and Matt Merrell brought a keen eye to the interiors. The open kitchen/dining offers various luxurious features, including a separate scullery kitchen and pantry behind the custom wood paneled casework partition; Calcutta gold marble countertops, island, and backsplash; custom weathered brass range hood and cabinet pull detail; and a 13 foot long marble island with integrated stone sink and weathered brass base. A Murano glass chandelier above the dining table created the inspiration for the design palette.
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
This exterior vantage point highlights the view through to the atrium garden, the outdoor shower and cabana powder room, and the relationship of the house to the grand eucalyptus trees beyond. A material palette of shou sugi ban siding with copper accents will age gracefully in place slowly becoming one with the environment.
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Taking inspiration from the surrounding Eucalyptus trees, the home’s exterior utilizes rusticated materials, such as concrete and Corten steel, at its base. A custom profile of lightly charred wood serves as the exterior siding, while expanses of glass and dramatic plaster and copper eaves top the structure.
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
Photography: Taiyo Watanabe
