Architectural Gratitude
With everyone spending so much time at home, I’ve been thinking about the importance of home and design, and reflecting on some of the remarkable architects I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with during my career. Each of these individuals and firms have added so much to our quality of life. Their creativity and range of their visions are truly inspiring. Here are a few of my very favorites (in no particular order). Hope you enjoy!
Frank Gehry
Arguably one of the world’s most influential architects, Frank Gehry has changed the way we imagine buildings. He has designed landmark structures throughout the world as well as in Southern California, from his own Santa Monica residence to Walt Disney Concert Hall. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2016.
Leo Marmol and Ron Radziner
With a focus on light-infused contemporary structures, this innovative firm takes on each design as a holistic project. Their architecture does not stop at the walls, but includes the interior and exterior landscape and furnishings.
Richard Landry
Working in a wide range of architectural styles, Landry and his team create luxury residences of exceptional quality and character that are designed to accommodate the taste and lifestyle of their owners. With a portfolio of residences around the world, the West Los Angeles firm is a frequent award winner.
Noah Walker
A design-build architecture firm, Walker is known for beautifully minimal contemporary spaces with stunning sight lines and a graceful presence in the surrounding terrain.
Howard Backen
Most widely known for his stunning winery designs, Backen’s work has been enormously influential in Northern California, and especially in Napa. Integrating landscape and expansive vistas, his designs often transform rustic materials into lush and luxurious spaces with a contemporary, open flair.
Scott Mitchell
Inspired by the work of Richard Meier, Charles Gwathmey, Louis I. Kahn, and Rudolph Schindler, as well as his own international travels, Scott Mitchell takes a collaborative approach to each project. Perhaps best known for his design of Nobu, in Malibu, Mitchell’s portfolio includes elegant structures from coast to coast.
William Hefner
With an approach that integrates architecture, interiors, custom furnishings, and landscapes, William Hefner designs both traditional and contemporary residences of great distinction, luxury, and livability.
Grant Kirkpatrick
With a passion for beauty, location, and collaboration, Kirkpatrick and his team are known for their dramatic contemporary estates with seamless indoor-outdoor living and breathtaking vistas.
Paul McClean
Paul McClean’s luminous contemporary residences are streamlined, elegant, and dramatic, even as they sit gently on the landscape. His signature use of water, sleek lines, and rough or polished stone offset expansive glass walls and impressive views.
Richard Manion
Richard Manion Architecture Inc.
With an emphasis on traditional design, Richard Manion has created estates of tremendous character and substance throughout the world. His stately residences express timeless beauty, whether they are streamlined Hawaiian compounds or monumental Holmby Hills villas.
Tom Proctor
Proctor’s traditional architecture, classical details, and exquisite use of materials combine into gracious and livable estates in some of Southern California’s most desirable neighborhoods.
Brian Biglin
A lifestyle architect extraordinaire, Biglin is based in Westlake Village, but his expansive vision of both contemporary and classical design comprises a worldwide portfolio.
Steve Giannetti
Santa Barbara-based Giannetti combines architecture and interiors to create magnificent and exceedingly comfortable spaces that incorporate regional tradition, elegant materials, and classic and contemporary design.
Bill Harrison
With offices from Florida to New York and Santa Barbara to Shanghai, Bill Harrison has made a lasting imprint on the world of luxury estates. His designs embrace a wide range of styles, each created to reflect the owner’s unique taste and way of life.
Perched on some of Southern California’s most rugged slopes, Vantage designs are dramatic and contemporary, with walls of glass, waterfall pools, and decks that seem to float out to meet the stunning panorama of city lights.
Marc Appleton
For more than 40 years, Marc Appleton and his partners have been creating legacy properties, from majestic estates to modest bungalows, from music studios to museums. As beautiful as they are practical, their designs are seamlessly integrated with the surrounding landscape.
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