house inspo

Designed in 1940, this handsome Frank Lloyd Wright abode—officially known as the James B. Christie House—bears the iconic hallmarks of Usonian design.

Adrian designed the Basic coffee table.

Idiosyncratic touches—including a recessed fireplace and a tall, ladder-like series of towel rungs—also mark the adjacent bathroom, outfitted with a fireplace near the tub.

Italian terracotta tile flooring and porcelain tile walls have been used for the courtyard.

Wool carpet sourced from New Zealand has been installed near the stairs.

The stunning master bath.

The tongue-and-groove ceiling is an authentic midcentury touch, while clerestory windows help keep the living area bright.

Bedrooms with paneled walls and built-in shelving are unique features to the home.

The master bedroom has windows and glass doors that open onto the back yard. The wood floors in this room are new.

The dining room opens to the kitchen, which features glazing to the yard. The flooring here is the original terrazzo.

Richard eschews the modernist box, instead using faceted, angular edges to form a collage of polyhedral volumes.

The upstairs portion of the addition takes advantage of the ocean view beyond. "The second floor achieves a dynamic on its own, with large window bands and roof overhangs with detailing emulated from the original," Grueneisen says. "But despite the significant change in the massing, we believe the final composition results in an integrated and seamless sense of continuity between the different generations of the building."

The main space containing the living and dining area and kitchen was relatively unchanged. "In consideration of the original vision, the additions blend with the original structure, and the basic idea of the open flow between the inside and the outside is maintained and reinforced in all areas," the architect says.

The challenge of renovating an iconic midcentury house is surely a daunting one for any architect, but apply this formula to a Richard Neutra house, and the responsibility rises exponentially. This was the situation for Los Angeles–based architect Peter Grueneisen, founder and principal of Los Angeles–based Nonzero Architecture, who inherited the task of taking on significant updates to an already-altered Neutra—the 1949 Freedman House in Pacific Palisades, California.

Saved from demolition, stripped of awkward alterations, and faithfully restored, these rehabbed homes prove how timeless midcentury design can be.

Shelly walks along the perimeter of the house, near the central living area. The design of the house, with its many rooms, nooks, and open family spaces, "was so ahead of its time," Shelly says, "that, to young people coming here, it still feels contemporary."

Wooden beams extend beyond the structure to create shading trellises for the terraces at the front and the back of architect Ray Kappe's Los Angeles home.

Always put contingencies aside. During any renovation, it is critical to set aside money for the "what if" or emergency scenarios. For example, there might be plumbing that you didn’t anticipate needing to replace. Conventional wisdom suggests adding 15 to 20 percent to your contractor’s renovation cost to safely consider these contingencies.

Ray sits at the central hearth on the north end of the comfortable sunken living area. From this perspective, you can see how the interior spaces flow into one another, passing one half-level up into the breakfast nook and kitchen and out from there onto the overgrown hillside. The various built-in furnishings have all been there since the house's construction.