The Balance Hill home by Kirkpatrick Architects, with interior design by Antonia Hutt & Associates, is situated on a dramatic hillside terrace, high above the LA basin. In addition to the home's dramatic exterior design, inside it has regulation size bowling lanes, a glassed in wall wine storage, and a home gym in addition to the bedrooms, bathrooms, a formal dining room, kitchen, casual dining area and bar.
The house's architecture expresses anchoring, bridging, and progressive transparency as it emerges from the hill and reaches out to claim stunning scenery.
Moving from west to east, the house's envelope becomes progressively lighter, until it culminates in a dramatic pavilion perched above the gardens - an "homage" to mid-century California architecture that strove to find new ways to celebrate the Southern California climate and landscape.
A living wall, by landscape architect Robert Truskowski, with California greenery and succulents lines the driveway.
Stone planes and volumes are used to hold back the hillside and contain the home's more private functions and services. Together they create the anchor points of the building that fix its presence on the hillside and communicate, foundation, substance and longevity.
Glass, plaster and wood components rest within or on top of the stone pieces to provide bridges and connectors to points within the house and through the site. These lighter elements animate the building's mass, allow for a blend of indoor/outdoor living and create a finer sense of scale.
The interior design of the home is perfectly suited to the structure with clean modern lines and minimal ornamentation.
And then there's the impressive wine storage, one of whose glass walls backs up against the inerior bowliing alley:
images courtesy of Kirkpatrick Architects, Antonia Hutt & Associates and Richard Holz, Inc. who did the construction of the home. Lighting Design by KGM Architectural lighting
photographs of interior design by Manolo Langis