Design-build firm HM DG INC has recently completed a fascinating modern home nestled in one of Bel Air's hills. Panoramic, it offers breathtaking views of Century City, Downtown LA, the Hollywood Reservoir and the Pacific Ocean.
This five-bedroom house, nearly 700 m2, is located on a one-hectare plot in a protected area, inhabited by luxurious residences. It was designed by HM DG director Hassan Majd, whose firm also built the residence, which sold for nearly $12 million.
The exterior of this two-storey house is covered, on the first level, with a sand-colored stucco and, on the second, with a modified Kebony wood impregnated with minerals, which allow it to resist climatic aggressions and pests. This platinum-classified material requires no maintenance and its color, as it acquires a patina, evolves from the initial gold to a beautiful silvery grey.
Inside, the entrance rises to a double-height volume topped by an inverted pyramid-shaped ceiling, and reveals a vast wall of glass that opens onto the pool and patio, also revealing a spectacular view of Los Angeles. Automated sliding doors disappear completely into the walls, a choice perfectly suited to the Southern California indoor-outdoor lifestyle.
The main living room has a fireplace followed by two bedrooms. The color palette emphasizes warm, organic earth tones, with honed limestone floors on the first level and white oak on the second.
For Hassan Majd: “The refinement is in the finishing details. In the kitchen and the informal living space, the carpentry and panels are all of the same essence. This choice unites the whole house and gives it a sensibility à la Alvar Aalto (Finnish architect). »
On the same level, beyond the kitchen and the patio, there is also a gym/office and a pool house/spa in a separate building with its own entrance.
A staircase leads from the main entrance to the second level. There, in the center, under the inverted pyramid-shaped ceiling, the room opens onto the lower main level and then offers a feeling of privacy. This upper level, which has its own access to patios for indoor and outdoor living, includes an informal living room, family room, games room, master suite and two further bedrooms.
The master bedroom, which juts out above the patio, is breathtaking. “I love that it has the best view of the whole property: a breathtaking panorama of Los Angeles and the Hollywood Hills,” continues Hassan Majd. The master bath is dark charcoal gray marble with a leather finish, and the glass enclosure hangs in the air with views of the Hollywood Hills, Century City and beyond: both intimate and decompartmentalised.
Outside on the main level, stairs descend from the pool and patio along the landscaped slope and provide additional vantage points.