Resort style home

Nestled in Reno, Nevada's high desert environment, 16 Glenhaven is a modern home that blends architecture, landscape, and resort style living in a custom design that lives like a private retreat, set apart from the pace of everyday life. Upon approach to the property, a sweeping driveway reveals the home, and a modern front yard pool terrace. Rather than hiding this recreation space behind the house, it's instead given a prominent place in both the arrival sequence, and the flow of everyday life. From the motor court, broad steps climb to the entrance, where expansive glazing and strong horizontal rooflines create a luxury modern aesthetic. Spanning more than 12,000 square feet*, the home is designed for both intimate family living, and l... More

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

Set within the coastal landscape of Biarritz, France, this modern resort-style home features a layered composition of glass and stone around a front yard swimming pool at the heart of its outdoor spaces.  Arrival unfolds vertically, with a covered passageway and stairs leading to the main living level. Landing on an expansive terrace at the door of a light-filled interior, the design immediately establishes an emphasis on indoor-outdoor living.  The upper level is the center of daily life. On one end sits the primary suite with private terrace, spacious dressing room, and generous bath, and on the other, a kitchen, dining area, and living room, all flowing together in one open-plan design. Extending onto the outdoor terrace, ope... More

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

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

Set within a quiet Hollywood Hills setting, Rising Glen is conceived around an unusual arrival, where the resort-style pool terrace becomes the first expression of the home’s indoor-outdoor lifestyle. The main floor is set within an open plan, with a family room, dining area, and kitchen extending onto outdoor living spaces, both front and rear. The pool terrace brings together a 52-foot swimming pool with spa, sunken fire-side conversation pit, ponds, sculpture, and areas for lounging, dining, and barbecuing, while the backyard opens onto a quieter garden with a lawn, mature trees, and water feature. The upper floor houses private accommodations and rooms for wellness, work, and relaxation. On one end sits the primary suite with a... More

In Los Angeles, where the landscape is as much a client as the human resident, architecture becomes an act of translation. This Beverly Hills hillside home, conceived by Whipple Russell Architects, answers a geologic challenge with sculptural serenity — a cascading Mediterranean retreat that follows the natural slope of its ridgeline parcel with grace, restraint, and reverence. Simon Berlyn Simon Berlyn Simon Berlyn Simon Berlyn Perched on a steep incline without a single flat pad, the home emerges not as a monolith, but as a rhythmic series of terraced levels — each responding to topography, setback, and sun. A three-story stack was prohibited by geology and code; instead, the home steps elegantly down the... More

The Site  As hillside design specialists, the Whipple Russell team sometimes finds it necessary to move mountains – or at least part of one, in order to create a spacious yet intimate modern home. To accomplish these goals for our Hutton house, we first cut into the rear hillside to maximize backyard living space and to site the house further from the street in the front. At the back of the property two porcelain stone retaining walls create a balcony lounge area with a fire pit and greenery overlooking the saltwater pool, spa, and the entire property including multiple firepits, and an outdoor kitchen/bar. An Ipe wood walkway bridge leads from this upper seating into the primary suite.  Adam Latham Adam Latham F... More

The Summitridge house is a creative collaboration between architect Marc Whipple and Troy Adams of Troy Adams Design, who served as project manager and interior designer. Both enjoyed the process immensely, and this distinctive house is certainly evidence of a successful partnership. It all begins with the land and its orientation to the views. The property is a flat hourglass shape on top of a ridge with steep slopes on two sides, so the shape guided the positioning of the house. It has a beautiful view to the west on the left, and looking down to the south, of canyons and the city. Marc: To get a viable house on that unusually shaped site, with height restrictions and setbacks, was the challenge. The design is not rectangular, it's not... More

It's always fun to see the evolution of our projects, as they change hands with new ownership. Our original client for Benedict Canyon was from the sports world, and he wanted an open-plan house for entertaining, that would also include a photography studio and gallery space for displaying his large scale artworks by him. Seven years later, in new hands, the original bones are still in place, the landscape is more mature, and the rooms have been repurposed to suit the needs of the new owners. Anthony Barcelo Anthony Barcelo Anthony Barcelo Anthony Barcelo Anthony Barcelo The long curving driveway down to the property arrives at a car park and entrance walkway, passing an upstairs studio space on the left-hand side,... More

  William MacCollum One aesthetic idea driving the creation of Laurel Way was that each room or space should be a jewel box, an individually conceived, precisely functional and dramatic sensory experience with its own depth of architecture. Central to the composition are many of Marc Whipple’s signature elements, one being the use of texture; smooth next to rough stone, rich wooden panels against glass, and glass reflecting water. The immediate experience upon entering the house is its inherent weightlessness – the sense that the walls appear to float as panels and you are always connected to the outdoors. This is achieved with adherence to precise symmetry of beams, support panels, tiles, and sightlines, and also th... More