Mandeville Canyon is located in the Santa Monica Mountains about a one-hour drive from Los Angeles. It is known for its gorgeous nature, demanding hiking trails, grand views of Los Angeles and celebrity residents. Luminaires such as George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robert Mitchum, Harrison Ford, Tom Selleck and many others own or have owned estates here.
Taking the fullest possible advantage of the large four-acre site and of the enviable views toward the Santa Monica beaches were top of mind for the architects, interior designers and landscape designers when they were engaged to create a modern residence in Mandeville Canyon.
Principal architects Noah Walker and Will Pyatt of the Los Angeles-based architecture firm Walker Workshop worked closely with the interior designers at Los Angeles-based Jamie Bush + Co and together they managed to create a modern home that has the warmth and livability often lacking in overly minimalist and excessively curated homes.
Landscape designers at Christine London Ltd. of West Hollywood, known for celebrity clients such as Michelle Pfeiffer, Kate Capshaw, Steven Spielberg, Michael S. Smith, Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck, created the garden and outdoor areas.
The three-storey, 19,000 square-foot (1,765-sq.metre) house stretches inconspicuously over the four-acre site and connects seamlessly with the outdoor areas. A 325-metre covered patio, an outdoor pool as well as a green roof with its vegetable garden over the lower level of the house are just some of the outdoor features that make this a true California residence.
The architects have called the house’s style Mandeville Modern and the simplicity and earthiness of the materials clearly refers to a modern farmhouse vernacular as well. On the top floor, the three bedrooms and two offices are clad in the reddish-hued western red cedar siding. On the lower floors and in the outdoor areas, travertine flooring connects and calms.
On the lowest level, even the indoor lap pool, guest rooms and a caretaker’s suite all have views toward the Mandeville Canyon.
In the open-plan living area, we love the black steel staircase that is startling in its curviness among the otherwise fairly rectangular forms. But it avoids the cliché of a curvy white-plaster-and-black-steel staircase by employing wood treads and wider black steel components in keeping with the modern, elegant farmhouse feel. Tuija Seipell
