Hollywood Hills House / Mutuus Studio

Architects: Mutuus Studio
Year: 2016
Photography: Kevin Scott
Project Designer: Kristen Becker of Mutuus Studio (mentored by Tom Kundig while at Olson Kundig)
Project Team: Renee Boone, CJ Christensen, Andrea Cochran, Labibe Structural Engineers
Interior Design: Kristen Becker, Mia Sara, Jerry Sarapochiello
Contractor: Dowbuilt
City: Los Angeles
Country: USA

Hollywood Hills House, a residential building designed by Mutuus Studio, is a bespoke residence situated atop a hill in the Hollywood Hills. This home emerged from the client’s desire for a carefully designed space within a modest footprint, echoing the simplicity of their New York City penthouse loft while blending elements inspired by medieval Irish castles with a contemporary California lifestyle. The house features a seamless flow of spaces, industrial-chic interiors, and stunning views of Los Angeles, combining old-world charm with modern efficiency. The challenging 45 percent slope of the parcel required innovative design solutions. Inspired by the clients’ travels to Ireland and European castles, the entrance is accessed via a wood and steel bridge over a secret garden, leading to a monumental bronze door. The secret garden, always covered, channels light into the guest bath through a skylight, creating a fortress-like feel.

Guests enter through this threshold and descend the stairs into the primary living space, designed to evoke the sense of arrival to a great hall. The kitchen area features blackened steel and walnut-veneered cabinets with brass accents, while the dining area includes caramel leather chairs and a Finn Juhl dining table. A circular, dark central hearth subtly separates the kitchen from the living area, which is adorned with eclectic artifacts such as African masks, a Willy Daro bronze table, and a cast from a childhood bone break displayed as a relic. Light floods the space through black steel Brombal windows, with the glass wall on the far side offering a panoramic view of Los Angeles. A distinctive feature is the heavy metal gear-and-chain pivoting window, which emphasizes the idea of changing, interweaving spaces. This window opens to the east terrace and a secondary dining room, allowing visitors to zigzag down to the pool and lower guest rooms.

The design showcases experiential choreography, rejecting traditional space sequences and reflecting the designer’s background in dance and instinctive spatial navigation. This fusion of old and new, industrial chic and old-world interiors is an impressive achievement. It integrates elements of medieval Irish castles into a contemporary California lifestyle, offering a fresh perspective on Case Study Houses by exploring intersecting spatial realms and maintaining a commanding presence atop Hollywood Hills.

The house features a double stair that divides the sequence into private and public quarters. The public areas lead down to the media room, while the private quarters are nestled into the mountain, providing a sense of safety and nurture. The material palette, with antique fumed oak floors and stair treads, cast-in-place concrete walls, stained cedar siding, blackened steel, and copper accents, reflects an elemental nod to castle traditions. The design is both efficient and supportive of a luxurious California lifestyle.