The path to homeownership can be daunting—especially in Los Angeles, a cutthroat real estate market where what’s deemed an affordable housing unit averages $500,000 to $600,000. “And that’s not even for a single-family home—that’s for an apartment or condo in a multi-unit building,” says Michael B. Lehrer of Lehrer Architects. “Most single-family homes go for even more. That’s just insanity.”

Lehrer Architects has a history of working on community-minded projects. A 2013 collaboration with the nonprofit development corporation Restore Neighborhoods Los Angeles (RNLA) created five three-bedroom, two-bathroom single-family homes on land donated by the city. The houses ended up costing $300,000 to $400,000 each to build—making their sale price less affordable than the team had hoped—in part because of their size and in part because public funds supporting the project came with oversights that added to the budget.

In 2015, RNLA executive director John Perfitt challenged Lehrer and his partner, Nerin Kadribegovic, to answer an RFP for middle-class starter homes that would cost $200,000 or less to build, including the design, permits, construction, and architect’s fees (the city would once again donate land).

This time, a private community bank, Genesis LA, would front the costs, amounting to roughly 70 percent of the estimated market value of the finished homes. “The people at RNLA were sort of fed up with the guidelines and the burden that comes with federal money, and they wanted to see if they could break that model and try to do a little better,” explains Kadribegovic. At first, he was skeptical, but the firm decided to submit a proposal anyway, and it won.

Set on narrow infill lots in South Los Angeles previously occupied by “derelict homes or urban blight,” according to Kadribegovic, the four completed residences have a spatial complexity and level of design usually not found in housing at that price. Each low-lying house riffs on a single design, which connects a linear bed-and-bath volume to the angled living, dining, and kitchen areas to create a skewed square plan.

Some of the budget-oriented design decisions were easy—windows, for instance, are mostly conventional sizes and shapes—and others were also guided by the Low Impact Development requirements affecting the project, such as orienting the roofs to drain into one central place and using only a single HVAC duct for each house.

However, most of the design required a craftier and more fluid approach. RNLA’s original goal to again build three-bedroom, two-bathroom residences was pared down to two bedrooms and one bath due to costs. The layout still allows the option to add a third bedroom at little additional expense, which was done in one of the four homes.

Bright swaths of color are used to highlight and delineate spaces. The mostly open kitchens and living rooms are angled to maximize their sense of individual place and spaciousness, while a refrigerator is set within IKEA wood shelving “and turned into a piece of architecture,” says Lehrer. “Anything that leaves the orthogonal grid here was not casual,” he adds. “Every move exists for a very precise reason in terms of achieving a spatial effect.”

The exteriors follow the firm’s self-imposed mandate to complement existing homes in the neighborhood. Their graceful roofs are angled above the front carports, blending with the rhythm of the street and adding contagious energy to the facades.

After the buyers were selected via strict minimum and maximum income requirements and a rigorous vetting process, the four units sold for $300,000 to $430,000, and Lehrer Architects came out of the project feeling that the tight budget wasn’t a hindrance. “For us, this project shows that if you do a few things that are not conventional, and you make everything as lean and straightforward as possible within that set of design actions, you can make something really special and beautiful,” says Lehrer.

For Azad Amir-Ghassemi, an urban planner and data analyst who purchased one of the homes after his real estate agent found it online, that is definitely the case. He appreciates the sense of spaciousness, the natural light, the clever design, and the playful use of color. “I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to buy this home,” says Azad, adding, “Still, I don’t think that housing security should be determined by luck.”

Last year, the firm joined with RNLA, Genesis LA, and other partners to form RETHINK Housing to do similar projects throughout the city, specifically for those who are currently homeless. And the only thing that’s holding them back from building more starter homes is the availability of land from the city. “It’s a model where everybody wins,” says Kadribegovic. “These homes have a dual purpose—they provide additional housing, but they also energize their streets by filling abandoned lots. Ultimately, the community wins.”

Project Credits:

Architecture: Lehrer Architects LA / @lehrerarchitects

Construction: Redstar Construction (626-482-8372)

Engineering: Nous Engineering