A Contemporary Beach House With Modernist Allure

If there’s one constant among ocean-adjacent residences in Southern California’s Manhattan Beach, it’s their dense proximity. Lots are typically long and deep; street-fronting faces are narrow. That’s not to say that the houses are necessarily cramped. Quite the opposite. Take the 6,000-square-foot striking, contemporary dwelling by Montalba Architects unfolding over three floors. From outside, the abundance of glass, paired with a pared-down palette of plaster, Douglas fir for the roof overhang, and Western red cedar for a textural screen wall, hints at the voluminous presence. Inside, any sense of compression dissipates. That is mainly because the plan is organized around a double-height interior courtyard open to the sky. Here’s how it works.

Starting at ground, “entry is through a screened, semi-outdoor garden space,” founding principal David Montalba notes of his debut MB project built for a husband and wife who had long lived in the area. Past the entry court, the first level houses a guest room and bath, mechanical and laundry space, a large gym, and even larger garage for up to six vehicles. After all, this is California, home to automobile aficionados, in this case a Porsche collector.

A Beach Home With a Vertical Garden 

Ever the modernist, Montalba enhanced the architecture with minimal finishes and furnishings, much of the latter by contemporary maestri. Flooring throughout is white oak except when it transitions outdoors to ipe. “The idea was to dissolve the edges.” Other prominent materials are vertical-grain white oak for millwork and acid-blasted silver travertine for the fireplace. Furniture embraces a role call of designers including Finn Juhl, Rodolfo Dordoni, Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby, Roberto Barbieri, and Roberto Lazzeroni. Artists join the cast, too. Count Andy Moses, Casper Brindle, and the wife herself. She plays the pride-of-place Steinway that has been in the family for three generations.

The California Home Features Heirloom Accents and Contemporary Art

Hermès Moves to a New Maison by RDAI’s Denis Montel in New York 

While physically just around the corner from its old iteration, the design of the new Hermès flagship on New York’s Upper East Side spans time. The ambitious fusion of three existing buildings was led by Denis Montel of Parisian architecture agency RDAI, the firm that has defined Hermés architecture since it was founded by Rena Dumas in 1972. Its central structure, completed in 1921 in the Federalist style as an outpost of the Bank of New York, anchors the southwest corner of its block. The adjacent buildings, former townhouses (one on Madison, the other on 63rd Street), meet in an L-shape encasing the bank.

The 20,250-square-foot store “is a union of New York dynamism and Parisian elegance,” Hermès CEO Axel Dumas says. The interiors take inspiration from New York’s Art Deco past and from the earliest Manhattan skyscrapers for a contrast of strict, angular geometry and more voluptuous, curved manifestations. 

The ground floor houses, on one side, salons for fashion jewelry, silk goods, and perfume and beauty, and on the other, men’s silk, leather goods and equestrian collections. The staircase leads to the second-floor men’s store with squared, dark-toned seating and blond wood display cabinetry arranged on a patterned herringbone wood floor that extends to the home collections area.

Ascending to the third floor, the curved walls of the women’s area host a large globe paying homage to the sun, both in its concentric circular geometry and its mimicking of natural light. This area flows into the space housing jewelry and watches, organized into alcoves for enhanced privacy. On this floor, in addition to women’s leather goods, is a masterfully crafted curved glass cupola that draws in natural light. 

The primary inspiration for the roof garden by Brooklyn-based landscape designer Miranda Brooks was a bas-relief designed from ink drawings by the French artist François Houtin. A cast-iron cavalryman, relocated from the previous New York boutique and recalling a similar figure atop the Hermès flagship store on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris, resides in the garden.

This Park City Property Boasts Stunning Views and Elevated Amenities

Gated communities are not usually known for their architecture. Houses are often dated and ostentatious, with little connection to their surroundings. The Iluminus Group wanted to prove the stereotype wrong at a private enclave in Park City, Utah. The development firm hired CLB Architects to design a timeless residence that was simpler and more elegant than its neighbors—though just as enormous—and would appeal to potential outdoors-oriented buyers. “Their goal was to establish a new standard for thoughtful design in this part of Utah,” CLB partner and architect Eric Logan explains. At the same time, the house would have over-the-top amenities like a climbing wall, sports court, bowling alley, and spa. CLB showed that these directives need not be contradictory.

The 4.9-acre site is on a steep slope in the Wasatch Mountains, thick with spruce, fir, and aspen trees. At 8,500 feet above sea level, the property has commanding views of the Park City Mountain resort and across a valley. CLB approached the landscape with respect. Based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Bozeman, Montana, the studio has decades of experience designing high-end mountain residences and strives to honor the natural beauty of each location. “We take the notion of connecting with place very seriously,” Logan says. “We’ve been lucky to work on some incredible properties in the West, and we try not to screw them up. Sometimes I think, You should do nothing here and make it a park. But something will be developed there, so we do the best work we can.” At the Park City site, CLB aimed to make the house as compact as possible given the extensive program and keep it from sprawling too far into the forest.

CLB built the home, dubbed Monitor’s Rest, into the hillside and designed an L-shape plan. Approaching from above, visitors enter a courtyard and see a structure that looks smaller than its 18,000 square feet. “The courtyard creates a quiet space where you can take in the sky and get oriented, and it also brings light into the home,” Logan says. The building’s exterior establishes the material palette used throughout: Croatian limestone, shou sugi ban cedar cladding, steel-framed windows, and a copper roof. Its simple form is designed to withstand the harsh winters; anything too expressive will leak or get scraped off in the snow.

The experience of the enclosed, serene courtyard deliberately contrasts with the openness of the interior. A limestone foyer, the nexus of the two-story house, leads in three directions. You can turn right to go to the primary bedroom suite and the office or left to the living and dining areas. Straight ahead is a dramatic atrium with windows facing the forest and stairs leading down to the guest bedrooms and bowling alley.

At the back of the ground floor is a small tower. Since the house is built into the hillside, Ostrander wanted a pop-up perch where residents could take in 360-degree views. Measuring 19 by 19 feet, it has a wraparound balcony and references the forest-fire watchtowers found in national parks. “It’s a little retreat that’s whimsical and unexpected,” Ostrander says. Warm and intimate, it practically begs for a kids’ sleepover, though a floating fireplace, rosewood table, and Moroccan Mrirt rug make it plenty sophisticated for adults. Like the rest of the property, the tower is both fun and refined, and brings a whole new perspective to the neighborhood.

clb architects: andy ankeny, brent sikora, jake ostlind, cassidy stickney, jaye infanger, erica hawley

design workshop: landscape architect

magelby construction: contractor

sherwood design engineers: civil engineer

kl&a, inc.: structural engineer

energy 1: mechanical/electrical engineer

orsman design: lighting designer

jouffre: custom sofa (living room)

Eny Lee Parker: lamps

semeurs d’étoiles through invisible collection: custom chandelier (entry)

konekt: ottomans (hearth room)

pierre augustin rose through invisible collection: custom coffee table

place textiles: custom sectional fabric

daniel becker studio: custom chandelier

through tom robinson: vintage dining chairs

miksi through invisible collection: custom rug

christopher kreiling through blackman cruz: lamp (office)

ski lift designs: custom ski lift chair (stair)

bourgeois boheme: custom chandelier (den)

dornstab through kalmar: floor lamp

stark: rug

brunswick bowling: bowling alley

restoration hardware: side table

fromental: wallcovering

juniper lighting: lights (guest bath)

Duravit: sink

clé: tile

marrone: custom range hood (kitchen)

wood stone: pizza oven

Dornbracht: sink fittings

old plank collection: art sheep (hallway)

response hg: flooring (sports court)

the court company: wall panels

luxury mrirt rug through benisouk: rug (tower room)

grand splendid studio: rug

through two enlighten: vintage mirror

crump & kwash: custom desk (guest bedroom)

made goods: desk chair

sutherland furniture: lounge chair

masterpiece millwork & door: custom millwork

craftsman upholstery: custom sofa fabrication (hearth room, bowling alley, tower room)

newell studio: custom coffee table (living room); custom dining table (hearth room); custom wall panels (office); custom shuffleboard table (bowling alley)

through 1stdibs: vintage chair (office); armchairs (den); bench (hallway); table, lamp (tower room)

blueprint lighting: custom pendants (primary bedroom, primary bathroom)

marset: reading lights (bedrooms)

watermark: sink fittings (bathrooms)

Porter and Graham Baba Architects Imagine the Future of the Showroom at The Shop in Seattle

A showroom with a mission. That’s the core idea behind The Shop, an experimental retail space by Porter in downtown Seattle designed by local firm Graham Baba Architects. It’s something not easily defined, combining retail, hospitality, and coworking in a 4000-square-foot space created by and for architects and interior designers. Yes it’s a showroom, with a rotating selection of pieces from blue chip brands like Moooi, Carl Hansen, and Steelcase joining products from emerging artists, with a specific focus on BIPOC artisans and creators from historically excluded communities. But it’s also a café, a cocktail bar, and a place for events, meetings and remote work.

“We’ve imagined the space that we as creatives are craving right now,” says Kyle Haakenson, a founding partner of Porter and The Shop. “You can stay for an hour, or book a meeting space for a day.” By infusing hospitality, food, and beverage into the retail space with a focus on experience, the team hopes to refine and redefine the specification of commercial furniture. And it’s taking a bet on a future where designers will likely work from flexible and multi-functional workspaces beyond the confines of the office. An installation of acrylic gold mirror cut into tall letters behind the bar offers a nod to Nirvana’s “Come as You Are” and sends a wholesome message: “Wel-come as you are.”

The Miller Hull Partnership Designs a Sustainable Home Overlooking Puget Sound

At times, renovating a home can prove more challenging than starting over from the ground up, especially when it comes to putting sustainability first. But the architects and designers behind The Miller Hull Partnership thrive on such a mission. To transform a 1960s Mid-Century Modern home overlooking Washington’s Puget Sound into the first Living Building Challenge 4.0 Certified remodeled residence, the team paid careful attention to details, inputting net positive energy and water systems and selecting each material to minimize environmental impact. “Creating a Living Building is not necessarily more challenging than any other project, it is just that it demands we shift our thinking and revalue different aspects of our projects,” says Chris Hellstern, Living Building Challenge services director at The Miller Hull Partnership. “Living Buildings require a more integrated design approach, which always leads to better solutions with our expert members of the design and construction team.”

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Taking full advantage of the waterfront views, the team opened the existing home in several places, adding sliding walls and skylights throughout. “In preserving the Northwest design aesthetic of this home, we also wanted to make sure it became even more connected to the natural beauty of its site,” adds Charlie Hellstern, founder of Charlie Hellstern Interior Design, noting the interior palette reflects the subtle shades of the native soil and rocks. Surrounded by 200-foot-tall evergreens, the landscape also proves fruitful for growing edible berries and vegetables, complete with a mycological foraging forest.

The Miller Hull Partnership even went as far as lobbying Bainbridge Island to change the city code to treat grey and black water on-site—a win for other homes in the area as well. “Many of our building codes and processes are outdated—they do not consider designs nor buildings that operate regeneratively, or with nature,” says Hellstern, making clear a little advocacy can go a long way toward creating more Living Buildings.