House on Blue Jay Way

Although characterized as a renovation project, only the foundation of the original Blue Jay Way house remains today. Indeed, in order to preserve the 1980s entitlements granting the home not only its existing height but a 20-percent increase in square footage, the city required that the new design maintain some of the existing structure. SPF:a met these constraints by conserving the circumference of the home’s footprint and inserting another floor into the 20-foot-tall crawlspace beneath the original home—the building itself perched on a steep, nearly 45-degree grade.

The home’s entries are provided on two levels, with the owner’s ingress on the second level through the garage, and guest entry taking on a more elegant progression, with access provided by a path, an outer stair following a 42-foot swimming pool and fountain and terminating in the main level, a clean, transparent plinth surrounded by glass. The long, glass podium cuts horizontally through the building’s mass at the center, offering the home’s public areas—living room, dining room, and kitchen—panoramic views and a generous open floor plan.

The circulation of the main floor follows the perimeter, providing for dynamic vistas and an uninterrupted connection with the outdoors as one moves between living room, dining room, and kitchen. A limestone water element doubles as a bench and provides a restrained separation between living and dining areas. Below, two crisp, concrete levels house entertainment and workspaces, including a home theater room with stadium seating, a glass-ceiling wine cellar (also visible through the floor of the kitchen), a game lounge, an exercise room with windows overlooking the canyon, a laundry room, and a home office. The entire structure revolves around a generously cut 16-foot master stairwell, giving the home’s standard ceiling heights a loftier and lighter feel. Descending lower into the hillside, one is transported to another place and time. A seductive 800-square-foot nightclub with full bar offers guests all of the pleasures of the Sunset Strip. Teak wall panels of varying size and grain orientation add texture to the space, while a smoking terrace showcases the breathtaking views of the Los Angeles basin at night.

The home’s sleeping quarters are situated on the top level, offering a quiet respite from the busier floors below and views that touch the sky above. All four bedrooms on the upper residential level employ teak plywood panels to warm the spaces against their four-foot high windows, and all rooms open to a shared east-facing terrace.