California Modern
An overview of projects, products and exclusive articles about California Modern
Project • By Whipple Russell Architects • Private Houses
Pasadena
Some homes are defined by a single dramatic gesture, Pasadena is defined by the richness of everyday life. Set within a secluded hillside estate in Los Angeles, California, the custom home feels both generous in size, and easy to live in, with spaces for everything from quiet family evenings, to hosting on a grand scale.
A minimalist modern exterior gives way to an expansive interior shaped by natural light, extensive glazing, and open living spaces. Responding to fire department access requirements, the main and upper levels are organized as two separate wings that remain connected on the lower level. Between them, the central pool terrace becomes a focal point for everyday living, with the kitchen, living, and dining areas opening toward... More
Project • By Whipple Russell Architects • Private Houses
Royal Oak
With its modern glass wall design, moat-style swimming pool that wraps around the entire backyard, and outdoor living spaces that extend all the way from the lowest floor to the rooftop, Royal Oak offers a luxury interpretation of contemporary Hollywood Hills living.
From the motor court, the entryway passes a glass-walled display garage, before climbing floating stairs over reflecting pools and fire features to an elevated front door. Here, a light-filled gallery draws arrival deeper inside.
The open plan main floor is composed of a series of everyday living and entertaining spaces. Family, dining, kitchen, and gathering areas all flow from one to the next, while open volumes and transparent floor elements allow views to pass throughout... More
Project • By Whipple Russell Architects • Private Houses
Bonhill
Designed for the contemporary Brentwood lifestyle, Bonhill brings together open plan living, abundant natural light, and a central outdoor pool terrace at the heart of its design.
From the street, a visually textured exterior of stacked stone, warm wood, and expansive glass beneath deep roof overhangs lends the home a sense of sheltered privacy, while it remains remarkably open.
Inside, the design is exceptionally cohesive. A library, living room, dining room, bar, and kitchen all unfold within a series of interconnected spaces, while a concealed workspace, walk-in pantry, and private guest suite are incorporated into the surrounding plan.
A sculptural wine wall and strategically placed light well add visual interest an... More
Project • By Whipple Russell Architects • Private Houses
High Valley
Set within a quiet residential neighborhood in Encino, Los Angeles, High Valley is a modern courtyard residence organized around a single, expansive outdoor living space, and the result is a luxury home that balances openness, privacy, and contemporary California living.
From the street, the architecture presents a quiet composition of floating horizontal roof lines, warm wood cladding, textured stone, and expansive glass. A generous motor court leads to an entrance framed by reflecting pools and fire features, establishing a calm arrival, before the home opens up to the spaces beyond.
At the heart of the design, the living room, dining room, family room, kitchen, and bar are arranged around a central courtyard, anchored by a modern... More
Project • By Whipple Russell Architects • Private Houses
Hedges
Designed for a constrained Hollywood Hills site, Hedges transforms a compact footprint into a modern home where architecture and outdoor living unfold across multiple levels.
The home’s minimalist exterior reveals only glimpses of the light filled interior beyond, but once inside, the home opens up into a spacious light filled foyer with double height glass walls, a floating staircase, and glass floor detail that adds a sense of interconnectedness between the different levels.
Organized in an open plan design, the living room, kitchen, and dining area open directly onto an outdoor terrace that’s the social heart of the home. With casual seating, a fire pit feature, barbecue, and infinity-edge swimming pool, this outdoor area a... More
Project • By Whipple Russell Architects • Private Houses
Serenity
The desert is open space and long views, but also the close-up, detailed perfection of the cactus flower. It is nature’s serene minimalism. This is the setting for our project inside the gated community of The Vintage in Indian Wells, California.
William MacCollum
This project involved deep creative collaboration with the clients, who partnered with architect Marc Whipple and the W^R team on every aspect of the interior design, and personally curated or co-designed each of the many art pieces throughout the house. With a passion for racing and cars, and also for collecting fine wines, the program was going to include dazzling and innovative displays that would be both highly visible and striking artistic statements.
This house... More
Project • By Whipple Russell Architects • Housing
Bighorn
William MacCollum
This project was built adjacent to the Mountain Course in the Bighorn Golf Club, Palm Desert, California, in the foothills of the Santa Rosa Mountains. The design of the central living space has formed a theatrical proscenium, framing the desertscape scene of mountains, trees, and sky.
William MacCollum
Our client visited the desert frequently growing up, and always wanted a house there. In addition to an indoor/outdoor open feeling, he wanted to see water from every vantage point in the house.
“This is why we not only have the backyard patio that pockets neatly into the fireplace and kitchen, but have created the entryway courtyard, which is really a very large pond. From anywhe... More
Project • By Whipple Russell Architects • Private Houses
Bundy Drive
Simon Berlyn
Design for Resort Style Living
Our three-acre Bundy Drive project, completed in collaboration with Ramtin Ray Nosrati at Huntington Estates Properties, is certainly brimming with entertainment and the desirable amenities that bring resort living home. All this requires a large house, so our design goal, once again, is to maintain a human connection despite a broad canvas. We create visual connections between multiple levels, and even across large volumes, so people won’t find themselves cut off in a dark hallway.
Simon Berlyn
Simon Berlyn
By creating view corridors, we assure that when you come around a corner there is something to draw you in, always a window with a view, a piece of art o... More
Project • By Whipple Russell Architects • Private Houses
Georgina Avenue
William MacCollum
What first greets the visitor to this Santa Monica, CA house is the generous front setback and landscape design by Z Freedman Landscape Architecture. A lighted series of steps lead up around a soft bed of fescue grass, and mature sycamore tree, past a stand of saplings.
John Fox
Black textured Basalt stone tile from Norstone USA frames the entrance.
William MacCollum
William MacCollum
This project was an opportunity for our client and Marc Whipple to enter into a true collaborative adventure. Julie Cantor had in mind for years a modern take on a NYC loft space with an open volume, skylights, and very little strict division between rooms. A friend thought that sounded like a hou... More
Almar Residence
Located in the highly sought after El Medio Bluffs area of Pacific Palisades, California, sits the Almar Residence from award-winning southern California design firm, Minarc. The Minarc team views space and function as mutually important factors to consider when creating well-defined and inhabitable areas wherein design elements are oriented to take full advantage of natural light and cross-ventilation. The design for the Almar Residence evokes a primary focus on sustainability, functionality and space.
Featuring three levels with five bedrooms and four and a half baths, one enters through an 18 ft breathtaking glas... More
Project • By Dumican Mosey Architects • Private Houses
Atherton Residence
Designed for Bay Area luminaries in Atherton, California this residence reflects a well-orchestrated response to a host of requirements, technologies, and amenities. Built for living, working, entertaining, and play, the diverse building program created the opportunity to weave a rich tapestry of form, materials, and details that reveal themselves at every corner. Anchored by the primary palette of Sapele wood and Jerusalem Limestone, the structure radiates warmth and elegance. By ‘folding’ the front yard down to the basement level, the building sensitively reduces its height and presence on the site; and through expansive glass and openings creates an engaging dialogue with the outdoors. More
Project • By Abramson Architects • Offices
Brick and Machine
A new ground-up building in the center of Downtown Culver City engages the creative energy and collaborative spirit of its cutting-edge inhabitants by providing two distinct office environments – The Brick and The Machine.
Caption
Caption
The Brick features a dynamic shift between large, building-scale window openings and a finely textured, human-scale materiality. The exterior façade aims to compliment the many historic landmarks in the area that are largely made up of traditional brick.
Caption
The Machine features an operable, experiential facade that allows inhabitants to take full advantage of Southern California’s consistent and temperate climate. The ever-changing nature of the exterior screens rep... More
Project • By Whipple Russell Architects • Private Houses
Trousdale
Jason Speth
Guests coming up the front steps of this hilltop home are met with a Carrera marble sculpture by Richard Erdman, titled Serenade, selected by our clients, whose devotion to the process made this an especially joyful collaboration. Also part of the team were Robert Wright and Jason York of McCormick and Wright, who did the interior design and were a distinct pleasure to work with. There are a lot of details and non-standard finishes in this house - personal taste, not trendy taste.
The dark-grey rough stacked-slate exterior is capped with crisply contrasting white stucco. A pivot-style all-glass front door and surround welcomes you to the modern West Coast lifestyle, framing a view through the house to the hills beyond.... More
Project • By Whipple Russell Architects • Private Houses
Summit House
Caption
Our clients for this project were a family intent upon staying closely connected even while moving to a considerably larger home. This was accomplished with the use of energy efficient glass walls throughout, an open floor plan, and sight lines between floating levels and rooms allowing the family members to stay connected visually throughout the space.
Caption
Caption
Caption
They also had a passion for modernism and had collected art pieces that we included in our 3D models to make sure scale and placement were considered.
Caption
Caption
Caption
One of the owners is a well-known sports agent making the entertaining of adults as well as teenage children and their friends... More