This story is part of our annual look at the state of American design. This year, we’re highlighting work that shines through an acrimonious moment—and makes the case for optimism.

In the early days of the Covid pandemic, when most public places were strictly off-limits, Amy Dantzler, an accomplished open-water swimmer, and her wife, Julie Anderson, got in the habit of taking early-morning trips from their home in the Hollywood Hills to L.A.’s South Bay. “Amy would get up at 4:00 a.m. and drive to Manhattan Beach because all the pools were closed,” Julie says. “Sometimes I’d join her to run on the sand. One morning I turned to her and said, ‘Why don’t we buy a house down here?’”

Amy, a real estate agent, liked the idea a lot—so much that she floated it by Bryan Libit, an architect and interior designer who frequently joins her for a swim.

“We were walking back to the car from the beach one day and saw a For Sale sign from the street,” he remembers.

The property had stood there since 1964, its clean-lined, A-frame structure the epitome of midcentury cool. But sometime in the intervening decades, it had been turned into an unpermitted rental duplex with a studio on the lower level and a two-bedroom apartment with a loft on top. Nevertheless, Amy knew that other A-frames in the area were being demolished for larger homes, and she and Julie liked the idea of preserving the past. They bought the 1,675-square-foot home at the end of 2020.

$9,400 Demolition	$64,330 Foundations & Framing	$27,730 Doors, Windows & Glazing
$33,000 Plumbing	$37,400 Fixtures, Furniture, & Decor	$7,700 Fire Sprinklers
$40,900 Lighting & Electrical	$20,000 HVAC	$14,400 Drywall & Insulation
$6,250 Roof Repairs & Gutters	$24,300 Siding & Decking	$40,033 Countertops & Tile
$69,160 Cabinetry, Millwork & Closets	$18,055 Appliances	$20,900 Painting
$18,500 Flooring	$9,800 Site Work & Block Walls	$51,460 General Contractor
$44,942 Permitting, Engineering & Design Fees
Grand Total: $558,260

“We didn’t care that it was small,” Amy says. “We wanted to live in a place that was fun and made us happy. Who needs more space when the beach is our backyard?”

The internal stairs had been closed in, and the external flight was no longer necessary. In the new layout, devised by Libit and executed by Recal Construction, the ground floor kept its kitchenette and living area—the couple refer to this as the rumpus room—and a bedroom and bathroom. (The kitchen and bath were remodeled.) The relocated entryway separates this self-contained suite from an oversize laundry room, where Amy throws off her sea-salted gear, and the reopened stairs lead to the A-frame above. The couple and Libit didn’t want to disrupt the impressive effect of the home’s wall of glass and strips of original colored panes, although all the clear windows were replaced.

“When you restore something, you have to do some funky things to make it work. You have to allow for that and kind of enjoy it.”
—Julie Anderson, resident

“We installed twelve skylights in the roof, which added even more light,” Julie says. They joined the two former bedrooms into a primary suite and made the kitchen larger, although Amy jokes that it’s still so compact it can feel like cooking on a boat. Libit installed custom cabinets on one side of the A and built-in end tables on the other to conserve space and anchor the furnishings. A banquette and an oval table make up the dining area. Behind the banquette is a powder room and a set of stairs leading to a small bedroom suite and a loft with the best ocean views in the house. It’s where Julie, a psychologist, takes her client calls. “It’s very calming up there,” she notes.

By the time the 17-month project came to a close, Amy and Julie had registered their home as a historic landmark and essentially moved in full-time. “I love that we were able to keep this A-frame in the community,” says Julie. “I love watching kids ride their bikes to the beach. And, of course, I love being close to the ocean.”

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Studio MacDonald Libit / @go_sml

Builder: Recal Construction Inc.

Structural Engineering: Insight Structural Engineers

Preservation Advising: Historic Preservation Consulting

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Also Appears In

Budget Breakdown: A 1960s A-Frame Gets a $558K Refresh—and Historic Landmark Status