Favorites

Perched below the Griffith Observatory and overlooking Hollywood is a lush lot crowned with four towering olive trees and a 1965 home designed by modernist architect Craig Ellwood. When a young couple purchased the home in 2018, it needed substantial work. For a historic restoration, they called on Woods + Dangaran, a local firm fluent in modernist history. The team completed a meticulous restoration of the home while keeping original components like the linear shape, open plan, and expansive windows. One of the most striking features is the original koi pond (a feature deemed so essential that its preservation was a condition of escrow) that is now crossed via a bridge that leads to a new lap pool—perhaps the biggest intervention on the property.

This recently listed home designed by Wisconsin-born architect John Randall McDonald is sited on a 1.20-acre, wooded lot about 15 miles outside of Milwaukee. A single horizontal plane extends from the rectangular structure to form a carport and mark the main entrance.

O'Donnell spruced up the kitchen with new cabinet fronts painted black and a glossy, chocolate brown backsplash.