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The couple spent six months designing their 1,178-square-foot, two-story home. Its compact size was informed by the existing garage’s 20-foot-by-30-foot footprint and L.A.’s ADU size limit of 1,200 square feet. "We had always planned on designing a compact house, however, having a hard limit to its size was definitely a challenge,

In the master bedroom, a removable window provides egress, as required by code.

The steep canyon wall rises directly behind the house.

The courtyard acts like an outdoor living room, where the Arnolds’ daughter, Josie, plays freely, safe from nearby traffic. The family dines here most of the year at the custom-designed wood-and-steel table. The picnic table set reappropriates the century-old eucalyptus tree that once grew on the site.

Separated only by large expanses of glass, the interior and exterior landscape flow together.

Flanking the concrete wall is a carport and an entrance leading past a small, cedar-clad ancillary building for art projects and laundry.

A wall of burnished concrete block protectively isolates their indoor and outdoor living areas from the busy road.

The Arnolds’ architecture studio—right next door to their new home—occupies a 1941 structure by Cliff May.

Josie’s tepee playhouse stands on a platform, where she and her friends erect sets for their theatrical productions.

With exposed industrial materials for finishes, the interior includes hand-troweled, waxed concrete floors, Douglas fir beams, and sealed-plywood ceilings.

At night, the quiet drama of the shed roof's angles glows against the darkened forest.

Nestled at the base of a dramatic rocky butte, a tiny cabin in the woods of Washington blurs the distinction between indoors and out.

An entrance hallway is the first space you enter in a home, but it can also serve the very important function of acting as a drop-off station or mudroom for keys, shoes, and coats.