A special challenge was the homes courtyard, which, although the entry to the house, lacked focus and coherence. It had been paved with a monolithic concrete slab without much planting. What planting existed was not drought tolerant. A 1950s kidney shaped pool beyond the courtyard was surrounded by a large concrete deck also with little landscaping. The homes entry was uninviting and the street frontage nondescript. The sequence to the front door was unclear. The project sought to remedy these drawbacks, improve on the original character of the courtyard and make the pool area attractive.

The first major move was to add a new gated archway entrance at the street. Entering through this archway reveals a new fountain on axis, serving as the focal point of the redesigned courtyard, and then redirecting the focus to the front door under the loggia. A fireplace was added for outdoor cooking and dining on cooler evenings. Tile patterns demarcate the various sections of the inner courtyard. The sequence from the street, through the courtyard to the front door and to the pool area and the guest house beyond, was designed as a progression of informal “outdoor rooms”. Inner and outer (pool) courtyards were created from the amorphous concrete plane. The sequence ends on the guesthouse balcony, presenting panoramic city and canyon views.

The outer (pool) courtyard, separated from the inner by a fire resistant California live oak, was treated less formally. The refurbished pool (the plaster was replaced and new tile installed) was softened and acts as a feature in the landscape, as opposed to a hole in a sea of concrete. The pools concrete deck was broken up and reused as stepping stones. Succulents and drought tolerant plants were carefully choreographed for sequence, hierarchy, pattern, texture and color throughout the year. The house is in a high brush fire area and all planting was selected for fire resistive qualities.

The far edge of the pool courtyard was enclosed by the new 1,500sf guesthouse. The detailing of the its open ceilings mirror those of the Living Room of the main house. The lower level of the guesthouse is nestled into the hillside and contains a large fireproof vault for the owner’s extensive collection of photographs and prints. The fireproof vault presented a further challenge - the balcony on its roof had to be made from concrete, yet detailed to look like wood. The new landscaping below ties seamlessly into the chaparral of the hillside. Beauty, charm, romance, scale and tranquility were the ultimate goals of the design.