As a well-booked commercial and fine art photographer in Los Angeles, this homeowner is known for having a gifted eye. Nevertheless, when it came to her and her husband’s home in the Hollywood Hills, she left the visual work to Beth Holden and Wolfgang Melian of New Theme Inc.. The pair shot what was arguably a “bastardized ranch-style house,” says Holden, demolished it reused the materials to create an all-white, curvy, boxy, wavy and circular design all at one time.
And one thing is for certain: Holden flooded the house with so much natural light — through multiple skylights and a south-facing wall of glass — that the space is more than camera ready. The homeowner, who no longer resides in the house but out it, used the house as a studio for photo shoots.
at a Glance:
Location: Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles
Size: 6,200 square feet; 6 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms
NEW THEME Inc..
Photo from Alen Lin
NEW THEME Inc..
The owners needed two main things for their house: something sustainably minded and also a location that could exhibit the homeowner’s photographs and act as a studio for shoots.
Since the north side of the home faces a hillside, Holden interpreted the whole lot’s topography in the outside curves and waves.
Photo by Patricia Parinejad
NEW THEME Inc..
The house is plaster over a conventional wood frame. The owners and designers wished to instill the home with sustainable sensibilities, but because L.A. did not have green construction codes when the project started in 2006, it took six years to complete. (The home served as a model for the city’s green building code, ushered in by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at 2008.)
Photo by Patricia Parinejad
NEW THEME Inc..
While the front opens the Hollywood Hills, the back references city buildings using its rectangular forms. Conceptually, Holden made the courtyard as yet another room. Each one of the living spaces on the ground floor open until the bud area, which contributes to a swimming pool.
The grid creates a light pattern on the rooftop deck, which Holden dubbed the “new yard” The steel construction also holds solar panels that provide 90% of the property’s electricity, she states, and got the project LEED credits. The home includes a silver evaluation.
Photo by Ethan Pines
What Is LEED All About, Anyway?
NEW THEME Inc..
Holden pushed the chambers under an overhang so that sun does not hit the windows and overheat the space. The overhang creates the rooms feel larger and plays the midcentury modernist aesthetic of outside living.
Photo by Alen Lin
NEW THEME Inc..
Holden drew the curves onto the staircase by hand. The stair tower became a sculptural object as well as a piling system that circulates air in the house by pushing hot air up and out through skylights. The family has air conditioning, Holden says, however they haven’t used it because of the way the house was oriented and designed.
“It’s a sustainable design I call the ‘new brand new,’ ” she says. “It is not really a new idea. Before HVAC, individuals designed buildings and houses in respect to position of site location for heating and cooling.”
Photo by Ethan Pines
NEW THEME Inc..
In winter, the low-hanging sunlight naturally heats the recycled concrete slab on the ground floor, which then gradually releases heat in the evening.
Photo by Alen Lin
NEW THEME Inc..
The second-story floors are all ipe wood that continues into the outside deck. The blue-gray walls at the house reference two colours the homeowner frequently uses in her photographs.
Photo by Alen Lin
NEW THEME Inc..
A sculptural skylight in the living room pulls in northern light to balance the sun coming from the south wall of glass.
Since there are strict height rules in the Hollywood Hills, a recessed ceiling cove has been a way to create a bit more headroom. “Design-wise, I wished to be forward-thinking,” Holden says, “but still, everything has a definite, concrete purpose”
Quilt couch: Bouroullec
Photo by Alen Lin
NEW THEME Inc..
Another ceiling cove imitates the form of a Corian kitchen island that Holden and Melian designed and constructed, together with the formaldehyde-free walnut cabinets and sink. “You can buy a sink like that prefabricated, but this is one sculptural hand-carved entity,” Holden says.
Suspension lights: Castore by Artemide; faucet: Elio; appliances: Gaggenau
Photo by Alen Lin
NEW THEME Inc..
Photo from Alen Lin
NEW THEME Inc..
A monkey that the homeowner photographed dramatizes the main bathroom. A fireplace peeks through into a library/office.
Bathtub: Waterworks; cupboards: New Theme Inc.; floor tile basalt
Photo by Ethan Pines
NEW THEME Inc..
Melian built and designed this custom bunk mattress out of formaldehyde-free walnut with low-VOC red finish.
Photo by Patricia Parinejad
NEW THEME Inc..
A skylight above the guest toilet’s concrete shower and bathtub creates great illumination for photo shoots. The custom cabinets are sourced walnut using a water-based stain.
Cabinets: New Theme Inc..
Photo by Alen Lin
NEW THEME Inc..
Since the owners did not have a lot of backyard to begin with, Holden place one on the roof. The bud is artificial. There’s a complete vegetable garden to the roof together with tomatoes, lettuce, tomatoes and vegetables, and a trampoline.
Photo by Patricia Parinejad