James V. Coane + Associates

On a small and steeply sloping lot in Beverly Hills, this three story house cascades down the hillside and focus’ on the incredible views of Beverly Hills, Century City, the Getty Center, Santa Monica, and the ocean beyond. As a residential architect in Los Angeles , many of my influences have been from the great Los Angeles Modern Masters such as Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, Craig Ellwood, and Raphael Soriano..  Neutra and Ellwood have built several of their masterpiece residential architecture in Beverly Hills. The design of the house is all about catching the view and creating as much open space as possible. The hillside is so steep that there is almost no usable exterior space, so we had to get the most with the building itself, which is a common circumstance for residential architecture in Beverly Hills that’s built on hillsides.  There was also a desire for a bit of visual and acoustical privacy from the street, as the narrow winding road the property is ...

The house is on a very quiet cul de sac in an old Pasadena neighborhood. When I first met the clients on site to discuss the design of their home, their description of what they wanted to me was very simple. They clearly stated “Jim, we want a house that will allow us to feel very comfortable inviting Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin over for cigars and drinks.” To which I replied, “I got it, this meeting is done!” Of course, there were a few more details that needed to be discussed, but that initial description was pretty much the guiding force of this project. As a lifelong Angeleno, I have always admired the Mid-Century Modern residential architects such as Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, Raphael Soriano, and Craig Ellwood. Craig was actually a professor of mine near the end of his life. The Neutra and Soriano archives I studied intensely at my college as a student. So, this Mid Century Modern Architecture home was a dream project for me! ...