At first, it was the view that took everyone’s breath away. This midcentury home stood for decades as a veritable time capsule perched high above the Sunset Strip in the Bird Streets neighborhood of the Hollywood Hills. Near dusk, the sky is ablaze with pinks and oranges, and the grid of Los Angeles shimmers long into the distance before extinguishing into the soft blue of the ocean beyond.

“The view was quite impressive,” says architect George Kypreos, who cofounded the firm Sherwood Kypreos with his wife, interior designer Shana Sherwood. “The site itself was very interesting, because it felt expansive from one end, but actually quite intimate and enclosed by nature at the other.”

Before: Exterior

After: Exterior

The home was built in 1959, and its facade bore several hallmarks of the era: a sloping roof and a brise-soleil in front of the living room. “But beyond the drama of the site and the key architectural elements toward the front, the house was fairly nondescript,” Kypreos explains. “Past the living room, it was just a mishmash of random openings with cheap finishes from the early 2000s.”

Before: Exterior

After: Exterior

Kypreos met the owner, a green tech investor, through a former client—and they initially discussed focusing on the primary suite. The owner liked the home’s midcentury qualities, but he didn’t want it to feel trapped in the past. As the project unfolded, the scope expanded to encompass the entire property—including the foundation, which needed reinforcement because it was slowly slipping off the hill. (An issue everyone noticed as they took in the view.)

Before: Staircase

After: Staircase

“He had a list of diverse aesthetic interests, and was struggling to decide how to apply them,” Kypreos says. “This is where we found common ground, because my team also prefers to avoid obvious clichés in the more iconic styles. For us, the challenge of a house like this is to respect what it fundamentally is while still creating something unexpected and personal.”

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

The owner sought “a sense of being lost in time,” with design elements that blurred the line between the past and present. The team decided to maintain the long, sloping roof and the brise-soleil, as well as the glazed entryway, which they updated with insulated glass. They also kept the placement of the long, horizontal living room window while swapping in operable glass for cross ventilation. The pool’s shape stayed mostly as is, but now the spa is slightly bigger. All of the updates were done in the spirit of modernization, and informed by the owner’s line of work.

“A major focus for everyone was for the house to be very high performing, energy-wise,” Kypreos says. “We installed top-of-the-line systems for power, air, and insulation. The house is gas-free—everything is electric—and the long roof lends itself to a generous solar panel layout.”

The refreshed exterior is punctuated by mossy-hued stucco, the gray/brown-painted brise-soleil, an oak front door, and an ipe deck that wraps around the back. Concrete and travertine slabs “ground” the home, as Kypreos says. Given all that earthiness, Sherwood’s job was to make the interior feel light.

Before: Primary Bedroom

After: Primary Bedroom

“The owner wanted to feel very connected to the landscape, but he was also interested in very streamlined design,” Sherwood notes. “So, we juxtaposed clean, straight lines in each space with some organic, handmade shapes—and crisp, futuristic elements are set against natural stones, woods, and metals.”

The kitchen is finished with Vermont verde granite and walnut, which pairs with a coordinating bar accented with copper in the dining area. The living room has low-slung modular seating from B&B Italia that emphasizes the view, but also makes the space comfortable enough for watching TV and reading.

The calming primary bedroom has a bespoke bed—and Sherwood calls the closet a “a real showstopper” with its fluted wood shelving inspired by retail stores. And the firm used bold swathes of blue and natural materials in the primary bathroom and backyard, which create a futuristic yet familiar atmosphere.

Before: Pool Area

After: Pool Area

It took about two-and-a-half years to renovate the home’s 2,300 square feet—including its guest suite and powder room—and Kypreos compares the experience to an adventure.

“It was very rewarding to design a house that feels specifically tailored to the owner, and totally unique,” he says. “Many of the details were discussed more in terms of feeling and perception than as architecture. He wanted to create something that he hadn’t really seen before, and that takes faith—and a bit of bravery.”

More Before & After stories:

From Pegboards to Terrazzo, This Swervy Oakland Bungalow Has It All

They Gave Their Dilapidated Washington D.C. Home the Renovation of a Lifetime

This Sunny San Diego Revamp Shows the Power of Paint

Project Details:

Architect of Record: Sherwood Kypreos / @sherwoodkypreos

Builder: RS Wood Construction

Structural Engineer: Polytech Consulting

Other: Xerosolar, George Braunegg