Located south of Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, this 1,400 square foot home is built on the foundations of the client’s childhood home — a commission that demanded both sensitivity to personal history and a clear architectural vision. Designed to serve as both a retreat and a venue for entertaining, the project is organized around a front of house / back of house division, much like a theater.
The front of house – the public realm – is a soaring vaulted room that unifies the kitchen, living, and dining areas beneath a single dramatic volume flooded with natural light from high clerestory windows. Together, these spaces form a stage for dinner parties, cocktail receptions, and other gatherings. The back of house is its counterpart: a private retreat comprising a master bedroom opening onto a secluded garden, a master bathroom with steam shower and spa tub, and a sitting room that doubles as a home theater.
While the interior is rigorously modern, the client wished to honor her Swiss heritage on the exterior. The design responds without nostalgia by maintaining clean modernist lines while incorporating deep-set windows, operable shutters, a stone entry vestibule, and slate roofing with zinc gutters and downspouts. The result is an exterior that is both culturally resonant and architecturally coherent.
Structural: Sheppard Associates | Landscape: Doug Richardson | General Contractor: Casablanca Construction
