House Love in the Time of Corona

The pandemic has changed how we live in our homes, and there’s a growing desire now to build ones that we can really fall in love with. As the world outside has felt unsafe, the home has become our sanctuary. It’s our entire universe, the place where we live out all of the facets of our lives. At the same time that the home has become a retreat from the outside world, it also has to provide us with all of the things that we previously sought beyond its doors. So, more space, access to nature, and a resort style experience are the most desired features for homes today. Our day-to-day home and the luxury resorts we visit on vacation are becoming one and the same space.  

Certain design details help to create a resort-like experience at home. An important one is having some level of connection to nature in indoor spaces. Every resort or resort style house incorporates the beauty of nature in its design, and this is not by chance. Ensuring connections with nature are maintained in indoor spaces, either by actually bringing elements of nature inside, or simply referring to them in the interior design has been shown to create a feeling of wellness in the people inhabiting those spaces. This principle is called biophilic design, and it is central to our work. Our trademark floor to ceiling glass walls that slide open for seamless indoor outdoor living, expansive windows and skylights that let in natural light and views, our use of natural elements and materials, and the way we center designs around fire and water features, are ways that we add the beneficial presence of living nature to indoor life.

One iconic design that brings nature right inside is the sliding glass wall. Floor to ceiling glass walls eliminate the divide between outside and inside, and flood interior spaces with natural light and colors. Glass walls expand a room beyond its physical limitations, even when closed, and when they’re opened, let in fresh air, breezes, and sounds that allow one to live both indoors and outdoors at once. 

Our Los Tilos house opens every room and floor to its outdoor terraces.

The living room at our Trousdale house transforms into a comfortably furnished covered outdoor poolside terrace.

Once glass walls are opened, a seamless indoor outdoor resort style life extends to a backyard or terrace. These outdoor spaces boast full dining and lounging capabilities, and serve as additional rooms to the rest of the house. Modern fire pits and sunning chairs around pools permit non-stop luxury living to continue inside and out.

At our Los Tilos house, fireside gathering areas dot the tiered patios. Each level of the home opens up to its own terrace and lounge area, allowing multiple outdoor social gatherings to occur at the same time. This means that a family or household can spread out and enjoy their own space, privacy, and expansive views throughout the day, safely distanced from one another, in as much solitude or company as desired. At our Hopen Place house, a classic standing lamp, beautiful Italian furniture, dining table, and fun, boxy chandelier create a room-like space on the poolside terrace, with the same option of living comfortably and fashionably outdoors year around.

Skylights are a great addition to a resort style home where one enjoys spending a lot of their time. They flood indoor spaces with natural light, and allow a visual connection with the sky above. They bring natural light down to lower floors, when homes have an open central volume, and allow a connection to the circadian rhythms of the day from anywhere in the house. When both living and working at home, it’s easy to lose a sense of time, so the visual references to sunrise and sunset that a skylight provides can be helpful.

Panoramic views with long vistas can be transportive, sweeping the viewer far out beyond the walls of their home. At our Trousdale house views like this stretch throughout the entire length of the home, expanding it with a spacious feeling that’s infused with natural light.

When the natural landscape and topography of a site is incorporated into the architectural design of a house, this too encourages a feeling that the living spaces exist beyond the bounds of the home’s walls. Hillside, hilltop, and canyon-side houses become extensions of their terrain. Our Trousdale house sits on a rocky hill, our Los Tilos house sits far out on a slope, our Laurel Way house sits atop a mountain of green terraces, and our Benedict Canyon house hangs glass walls over the edge of a canyon. From within each of these homes the local terrain is found just outside the window. 

Swimming pools are icons of the West Coast lifestyle, and main features in any resort experience. Pools are oases of relief and playgrounds for all ages. They offer invigorating refreshment, the freedom of relaxation and exercise, and the invaluable opportunity to momentarily escape the world.

The presence of water can also add a soothing and peaceful quality to a home. The riverbed style pond that wraps around the dining room of our Summit House, and the illuminated pools of water around our Benedict Canyon property invite a calm contemplation.

At dawn and dusk still waters can become mirrors reflecting the sky. With stepping stone paths across them, they feel like streams being crossed in nature.

Fire brings an entrancing energy and adds warmth and nature’s aliveness to indoor and outdoor spaces. Fireplaces invite communal gathering, while individual fire features around a property add a breath of untamed wildness.

Organic materials like wood, stone, stacked slate, and patterned marble add the textures, colors, and beauty of nature to indoor spaces, supporting that important need to feel connected to the natural world. At our Laurel Way house a textured stone wall in the foyer contrasts with smooth glass, at Benedict Canyon a marble wall shimmers in the primary bathroom, and at our Trousdale house a delicate marble shower presents a beautiful design.

Organic shapes in furniture and decor mimic the variance of form found in nature, and the unbounded movement of light and shadow add a lighthearted, playful dappling to surfaces. The foyer floor at our Benedict Canyon house dances with squares of light, and at Mandeville Canyon the portal windows create a slow moving landscape of light and shadow that changes throughout the day.

The presence of live trees and plants in living spaces heightens the feeling of being close to nature, while also adding fresh oxygen to the air. At our Benedict Canyon house a tree grows between the foyer and the dining room, and at Hopen Place, a tree grows alongside the pathway to the detached guest bedroom.

The aesthetics and ambience of a home are also important factors in creating a retreat-like refuge of restorative calm. Serene and soothing color palettes create a peaceful atmosphere, while artworks add inspiration, optimism, and a sense of possibility.

At our Trousdale house, a custom Richard Erdman sculpture dances whimsically at the entrance. Made of Carrara marble, it adds a touch of elegant earthiness and stirs an emotional response that sparks the imagination.

A lighthearted wall mural and gallery display of artworks add pops of color to our Georgina Avenue house. These playful, uplifting designs balance the black and white decor.

As more and more people work from home, elegantly appointed home offices that provide a comfortable and professional space to work in are becoming standard features of the modern house. In a resort style home one can easily move from the office to the pool, or to even work poolside when the weather permits. At our Laurel Way house two separate home offices provide bright and cheerful work spaces, while at Benedict Canyon, the detached modern studio offers an extra level of privacy.

Finally, as we all ask our homes to do more, and to be more, we want them to be as energy efficient as possible. Sustainable solar energy, high performing windows, and smart thermostats that regulate heating and cooling, as well as high performance air filtration systems are all sought after features for today’s modern home.

Our Summit house was the first house permitted under the city of Beverly Hills’ Green Building Ordinance, and its 20’ double height glass walls flood the open volume home with light, views, and an expansive indoor outdoor feeling, while being 15% more energy efficient than the code requirements.

The design possibilities for creating a modern resort style home that can meet all of the needs and desires for living in today's world are endless..