The house rests on a high narrow shelf of land near Beverly Hills, Calif., looking across plunging, tree-clad hills to a panoramic view of the valley below. In a certain light, the vista of trees layered with mist suggests a Japanese landscape, a marvelously apt setting for the contemporary architecture with its Japanese detail.
The long narrow plan of the house, its shape determined by the shape of the land, gives every room a spectacular view plus a more immediate outlook on the sparkling pool and its terrace. The same shape made it easy to separate the girls' bedrooms from their parents' by the great living-dining-cooking area. Outside this part of the house the pool stretches toward the back of the site like a lawn of glittering sapphire, and the long porch of rosy beige pebbled concrete extends the indoor living areas to meet it. The low platform or hikie at one end is in fact a continuation of the living room's raised hearth.The bedroom wings have their own outdoor extensions: enclosed sun courts with direct access in each case to a bath dressing room. These prophesy the second life of the house. For when the girls are away, their wing is like a guest house within the big house, offering all the amenities of polished hospitality: self containment, lavish dressing space, the luxury of the pool a few steps outside the door. Even when there are no guests the wing is in continual use, for a third room has been turned into a painting and pottery studio, left, where the girls' mother spends a good deal of time when she is alone.
Nothing more truly expresses the real flavor of the house than the great living area, opposite page. Pervaded by the outdoors, this huge room with its terrace is informal enough to suit the girls and their friends, yet it has enough dignity for their parents' large parties. At the fireplace end, only a low book case separates the room from the hall lined with shoji-doored closets. These conspire with the travertine chimney breast and the end wall of vertical red-wood boards to create an atmosphere of unpretentious elegance. At the other end of the room, the dining area is screened from the hall by a ceiling-high storage wall that includes a bar.Buffet parties are the rule in this house, and the 12-foot-long Philippine mahogany cabinet between the dining area and the kitchen makes a wonderful place to set out the food. Above the cabinet are folding doors that close off the kitchen, below left.
But when these are open, cooking becomes a part of the party, and the guests can watch and sniff dinner as it is barbecued at the tile-topped cooking island. At one end of the kitchen is a high counter facing the sliding doors to the terrace so dripping bathers can hop over from the pool to help themselves to sustenance.The Japanese accent of the architecture is echoed by tiny gardens near the front door and outside the master bedroom. These little plots have the added charm of easy maintenance, another point that predicts a happy future for this house in its second life.
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source: House and Garden Magazine | November 1961
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