Nightingale | SAOTA

Set in the Los Angeles Bird Streets above Sunset Boulevard, this private residence draws on the city’s modernist tradition of hillside living, where architecture and landscape merge to celebrate light, views, and openness. The design engages directly with its steep topography, balancing privacy with panoramic connections to the city below. The house is embedded into the hillside, its planted roofscape forming a visual extension of the landscape and a natural screen from neighbouring properties. This green surface softens the building’s presence and creates a continuity between architecture and terrain. Located along a steeply sloping road in a neighbourhood of predominantly single-storey homes, the project reimagines the roof as a defining architectural element that serves as façade, landscape, and sculptural gesture. It shields the interiors from the street while choreographing the arrival experience. The journey begins in a sheltered porte-cochere and culminates in expansive living spaces that open seamlessly to the views beyond. Indoor-outdoor living defines the spatial experience. Deep overhangs, broad terraces, and full height glazing blur the boundaries between interior and exterior. The main living areas, kitchen, and bedroom suite are oriented to capture the outlook, while a façade-length infinity pool and a network of outdoor lounges and dining terraces reinforce a constant dialogue with the landscape. Themes of water, fire, and reflection animate the architecture through ponds, fireplaces, and layered lighting. As day turns to night, firelight and illumination combine to create an atmospheric, almost cinematic quality, a sensibility echoed in the owner’s collection of artwork and automobiles. Technological sophistication and automation discreetly support comfort and performance, complementing rather than dominating the architecture. The material and lighting palettes are tuned to achieve openness and clarity by day and depth and drama by night. Landscape design threads through every level, integrating planting and water features across the site to root the house within its hillside setting and complete a seamless composition of architecture, light, and landscape.

Lead Designers: SAOTA

SAOTA Project Team: Mark Bullivant, Dominik George, Ryan Seavy, Seth Gottlich, Edward Peinke

Architect of Record: Woods & Dangaran

Interior Designer: Kim Bauer

Contractor: ARTES Design Build

Structural Engineer: LFA

MEP: Green MEP

Owners Rep: Plus Development Group

Landscaping: Chris Sosa

Lighting Design: KGM lighting

Townplanner / Expeditor: Crest Real Estate

Photographer: Ema Peters