Courtyard of Appeal

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Like so many L.A. stories, the tale of the Courtyard House begins with a lucky break. One day in 2001, Thomas Robertson got a call from a friend he hadn’t seen in ages. The friend told him that his elderly aunt needed companionship in her twilight years, and that she owned an empty lot in a posh West Los Angeles neighborhood. Would Tom like to design a home they could live in together? “I thought he was joking,” Robertson recalls. And just like that, he had his first house commission. — David A. Greene

The thick stucco walls and tiled roof repels heat, and the cleverly positioned casement windows (even in closets) suck Pacific sea breezes far inland.

Photo by: Maria Aufmuth

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