This mid-century modern house is a home to a large wall art collection, it's designed in the best traditions of modernism and mid-century decor
California has a strong historic link with modernism, and is home to architectural experimentations by well-recognized pioneers of the movement. Los Angeles-based Studio William Hefner has taken cues from Californian modernism to complete this house for an art collector that overlooks Beverly Hills.
Trousdale Estate was to become a mid-century modern home with a large enough wall space to hang the larger artworks in his collection, and the designers succeeded. To remedy this, the architects created an entrance hall at the heart of the Trousdale house with a long, narrow skylight and tall white walls for displaying the pieces.
The rest of the single-storey residence is arranged around this space, with an open-plan living and dining area placed behind the hall. Wings are positioned on either side, with the bedrooms occupying one and a kitchen-cum-dining room in the other. Sliding glass doors at the rear of the residence offer views of the city. The glazed panels also open up completely to the back garden, which features a swimming pool and an outdoor dining area.
The bedroom wing projects out furthest into the garden. The master bedroom at the end features doors that open the entire corner to a terrace with glass balustrades, chosen so as not to obscure the view. A volume with an open front frames the entrance at the front of the residence facing onto a courtyard. It features a white bench with no back, which adjoins a path encircled by water. Walls are faced with limestone, which is offset by the wooden doorway and underside of the roof.
The house consists of several wings, all of them can be easily opened to outdoors, there's an inner courtyard and a swimming pool
The house is painted white to avoid overheating, the courtyard is clad with white tiles, and there are cacti and succulents traditional for California
The interior spaces are done in white to feature a perfect backdrop for the owner's art collection and a simple material palette is characteristic of modernist style
The entrance features a long gallery where the large scale art works are placed, and the rest of the house is built around this space
The living room, kitchen and dining room are united into one open space layout, and there's a separate outdoor dining zone