From the street, the crisp, white cement panels that clad the Nightingale Drive Residence’s exterior rise a modest 18’ from the street. However, almost secretly tucked away towards the back and the panoramic views, a clean, modern 10,000-square foot home emerges containing two main floors, a basement, a grand lawn, infinity pool, and an all encompassing view of the Los Angeles basin.
The house is cut into the hillside with large concrete retaining walls that are expressed through the interior of the house. In plan, the structure is an L-shape, embracing the view across its angled infinity pool. Staring back at the house from its private landscape, a transparent glass main level is topped by the master and family bedrooms – also clad in glass, but shielded from the sun’s intensity by a series of custom-designed vertical louvers, cut from the same cement panel material that wraps the street façade of the home. The vertical louvers provide a unique architectural contrast to the building’s strong horizontal elements. Besides the omnipresence of the cement panels, the home’s construction utilizes materials such as architectural exposed concrete, travertine, architectural exposed steel, plate steel, glass, and wood.
All aspects of the house display museum quality construction. The composition of the home itself is fluid, blending indoor and outdoor spaces with subtle divisions and natural material integration throughout. Ample public and private areas make the home overwhelmingly livable – a private oasis, harmoniously nestled into this fairly urban environment.