Creating 1414 Donhill Drive
In Los Angeles, where the landscape is as much a client as the human resident, architecture becomes an act of translation. This Beverly Hills hillside home answers a geologic challenge with sculptural serenity — a cascading Mediterranean retreat that follows the natural slope of its ridgeline parcel with grace, restraint, and reverence.
Perched on a steep incline without a single flat pad, the home emerges not as a monolith, but as a rhythmic series of terraced levels — each responding to topography, setback, and sun. A three-story stack was prohibited by geology and code; instead, the home steps elegantly down the hill, revealing five distinct levels that blend into the terrain like architecture in dialogue with earth.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
A bridge across a tranquil reflecting pond welcomes visitors to the entry, where glass, stone, and wood begin their quiet interplay. Just below, a 500-square-foot basement lounge sits recessed beneath a courtyard, hidden from the street and wrapped in stillness.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Throughout the home, materials reflect a warm modernism rarely seen in contemporary hillside builds: rich woods, green velvet, natural stone, and white venetian plaster create a palette that is tactile and timeless. Finishes were intentionally softened — gridded guardrails, wood slats, and box-mullioned glass lend a sense of craft and structure. This is not minimalist modernism; it is an invitation to linger.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
From the main floor — anchored by the kitchen, breakfast nook, and entertaining spaces — two staircases lead to the lower level.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
One winding downward in a sculptural S-curve past an Audrey Hepburn portrait to the lounge, bar, theater, indoor spa, and basketball court; the other also rising to a rooftop terrace, where the view stretches from downtown to the ocean with a tilt of the head.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
In the primary suite, a sense of intrigue persists. The entrance to the primary bath is seamlessly concealed behind wood paneling — hidden doors flush with the headboard wall swing open only to those who know they exist. It's a moment of architectural theater, subtle and seductive.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Outdoor space was treated as essential architecture: the pool — flanked by sculptural fire features and accessed via mirror-image pool steps — is a stage for reflection and play. Water trickles from spherical fountains surrounded by square fire rings, and a waterfall at the edge of the infinity pool cascades down into ponds beside the lower-level lounge.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.
Each elevation offers its own retreat: a spa here, a gym there, mini golf below, all revealed in layers, never at once.
Maximized to its zoning envelope and carved directly into the slope, the home is a feat of constraint and vision — as responsive to code as it is to climate, as reverent to the land as it is luxurious in use. It is, in every way, a house that couldn’t belong anywhere else.
Photo by Simon Berlyn.