An existing house sits in the midst of a 27 acre site in an affluent section of the San Fernando Valley, 60 miles north-west of Los Angeles, this 6,000 square foot house, servants quarters, and pool could be described as a Southern California developer rendition of French Regency/French Provincial.

The owner, a somewhat eccentric Los Angeles plastic surgeon, had several specific requirements for a second “house” on the site. 

He wanted to build a “fun House” (his term), an “object” as he put it, for his two teenage children, a boy of 16 and a girl of 14.  The site is to be the “sawed-off” top of a nearby hill with access from an existing dirt road.

The program for the fun house was both precise and amorphous.  The doctor wanted a “thing,” he wanted humor, he wanted a space where his daughter could paint and hang her paintings, places for the children (and adults on occasion) to gather informally and formally, places for the children and a few friends to sleep, a small kitchen, small banquet and assembly facilities (music recitals, poetry readings in which the doctor would also participate).  The doctor wanted to exploit the views from the hill to the surrounding hills, grasslands, and horse ranches.  He also wanted some imageable reference in the building to the fact that he is the collector of approximately 80 (that’s right) dogs that walk the site with him each day.