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The first gated community in Los Angeles was founded in 1923. The parcels were graded, the village constructed and the roads paved as part of the marketing of the development. A huge illuminated sign was built on Mount Lee to attract attention to the community. The name of the community was Hollywoodland. The sign, later to become synonymous with the entertainment industry, consisted of thirteen letters, fifty feet high, thirty feet wide made of sheet metal, pipe and illuminated by hundreds of lights.

In 2000, a few remaining lots, most considered too steep to build on, were available in the leafy, private, celebrity enclave under the now shortened and no longer illuminated Hollywood sign. My clients, the musician Tommy Shaw and his wife, actress Jeanne Shaw, suggested that I find a building lot under the sign in Beachwood Canyon. This eclectic community of winding narrow roads, with sweeping views of downtown Los Angeles and Griffith Park, is just a two mile drive north of the fabled intersection of Hollywood and Vine, the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Grumman’s Chinese Theater.

My partner found the lot, a real estate sign buried in the underbrush. He gathered the sign, put it in his trunk and promptly called the faded number.  Quickly a deal was made for very little money. At purchase, the parcel was considered unbuildable, as the previous owners’ plans could not be altered to satisfy the new Hillside Ordinance instituted by the City of Los Angeles.

The design objective was to build a modern version of the townhouse typology on a concave, steep, pie shaped hillside parcel.  The plans would need to meet the requirements of the Mulholland Scenic Parkway and the Hollywoodland Specific Plan design review boards together with the Los Angeles Hillside Retaining Wall Ordinance. The goal was to obtain approvals from the governing boards without compromising the design intent. The approval process took two years.

The design solution was an enormous collaborative design effort with Scott Joyce Design, David Lau and Associates structural engineer and Legacy Construction, the general contractor.  Due to the unusual and confining 6000 square foot lot size, the design solution consisted of 22 caisson piles filled with double rings of steel rebar, 52’ in the ground filled by 110 trucks of concrete. This foundation stepped up the hillside to create a series of light-filled, tiered, U-shaped retaining walls. The typical townhouse stacked circulation pattern was offset to allow for 20’ tall light filled staircase shafts.  The public floor has 11’ ceilings and 45’ of 11’ tall Fleetwood glass doors that pocket into recesses inside thickened walls. When open, the doors reveal a 750 square foot deck 22’ above the street, further blurring the distinction between inside and out. Goggle mapping was utilized to position metal clad wood Marvin windows which framed openings to iconic Los Angeles landmarks John C. Austin’s Griffith Observatory and Los Angeles City Hall designed by John Parkinson, John C. Austin, and Albert C. Martin, Sr.

To further the theme of a light and airy interior, subtle material transitions such as stone, carpet and wood are deployed throughout the home in the same shade of sand.  The staircase and railings are constructed of Waterjet cut Starfire glass, which fits tightly into the stair tread and risers, acting as a structural reflector of the landscape beyond.

This project has been submitted to the prestigious design 10 awards in the category of houses under 3600 square feet.

Construction Photos: