California architect Lorcan O’Herlihy, founding father of the studio LOHA, has reworked a uncared for Nineteen Nineties home in southern California right into a household residence with framed views of mountainous terrain.

Nestled amongst a cluster of bushes on a Malibu hillside, the Highgrove Home was bought by O’Herlihy and his spouse, Cornelia, in 2010.

On the time, the home – inbuilt 1998 – was structurally sound however in a state of disrepair. Each the inside and exterior had been in want of a makeover.

Through the years, the couple chipped away at renovating the two-storey home – a challenge described as a “labor of affection”. The work included a kitchen transform, new decks and the restoration of hardwood flooring.

In 2020, the couple determined to embark on a serious overhaul and create a house that “sparks creativity”. Guiding issues included embracing the landscaping and retaining unique constructing parts.

“It is necessary to maintain the prevailing construction when attainable as a result of it cuts down the ecological footprint of building,” stated O’Herlihy.

“The secret’s to strategically design inside these parameters.”

O’Herlihy added a small room on the decrease degree however in any other case stored the house’s footprint intact. New supplies had been included, each in and out.

“The fabric decisions are equally modern and timeless in opposition to the backdrop of the southern California mountains,” the architect stated.

The house’s unique fibre-cement siding was retained and the studio lined it with a gray wood rain display screen. The display screen mitigates photo voltaic warmth achieve and, visually talking, helps emphasize the house’s crisp, rectilinear type.

In some areas, the display screen sits 18 inches (46 centimetres) from the house’s perimeter wall. The gap enabled the architect to create deep-set home windows, additional lowering photo voltaic achieve and including a creative contact to the outside.

In choose areas, unusual casement home windows had been changed with mullion-free, plate-glass home windows. The glazing provides unobstructed views of the panorama.

A glazed, sliding door opens onto an L-shaped terrace, the place the household likes to chill out and take within the surroundings.

Throughout the 2,500-square-foot (232-square-metre) house, the structure was barely modified.

The higher degree holds the shared areas, together with a major suite and a bed room. The decrease ranges accommodates two further bedrooms.

Stairs had been relocated to make the lounge bigger, flex area was added on the decrease degree, and a rest room was enlarged. A storage was transformed right into a children’ area.

Inside finishes embody oak flooring and painted drywall.

Within the kitchen, the architect put in customized Finnish birch plywood cabinetry and Caesarstone counter tops.

The house is furnished with modern decor, together with chairs designed by Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier.

Total, the challenge embodies the expertise of a longtime design follow with “the intimacy of a loving household house”, the studio stated.

It additionally gives a connection to O’Herlihy’s childhood. Whereas born in Eire, O’Herlihy grew up in Malibu on account of his father’s work in present enterprise. His father was the Oscar-nominated actor Dan O’Herlihy.

LOHA, or Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects, has developed an in depth portfolio since its founding in 1994. Notable initiatives embody a pupil condo complicated that steps down an LA hillside and a row of sculptural, metal-clad properties that discover potentialities for the “small lot subdivision typology”.

The agency made the longlist for structure studio of the 12 months within the 2022 Dezeen Awards programme. In 2021, Lorcan O’Herlihy acquired the coveted Gold Medal from AIA’s Los Angeles chapter.

The images is by Right here and Now Company (HANA).