The Dimmick Drive Houses are a pair of single-family residences on an extremely steep lot in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Los Angeles. At 2,000sf each, the pair are modest in size and have an unusual four-story configuration to minimize impact on the hillside. Each are composed of a pair of stacked floorplates elevated over a concrete base housing the garage and an elevated outdoor dining patio. The second-floor void splits the façade into a pair of smaller masses (garage and house) more suited to the scale of the surrounding residential neighborhood. The fourth level cantilevers over glazing that spans the width of the front façade at the living level to capture views west over downtown Los Angeles to the ocean.

The pair feature a loft-like main level that is open and continuous from the front living and dining area to a double-height kitchen facing the backyard. While both have a similar distribution of large and private rooms, the spatial configurations vary. The lower house is composed of shifted floorplates that cantilever over the lower levels, the upper house a set of rotated frames that interlock between the third and fourth levels. 

Team:
Architect: FreelandBuck
Other participants: David Freeland, Brennan Buck, Belinda Lee
Photography: Eric Staudenmaier

Material Used:
1. Facade cladding: Hardiboard, Douglas Fir
2. Flooring: Vermont Plank Flooring, Red Oak
3. Doors: Western Window
4. Windows: Milgard
5. Interior lighting: Custom
6. Interior furniture: Custom