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Mariposa House
Nestled in a lush canyon at the base of the rugged Santa Monica mountains, the Mid-Century Modern Mariposa House and its adjacent guest house underwent a dramatic, yet thoughtful, renovation. Stripped down to its bare elements, B+L’s design brings back much of the home’s original mid-50’s spirit, while updating nearly every system and surface to the highest contemporary standards. This includes an earthquake resistant structural retrofit and energy efficient mechanical systems. Expansive glass walls look out onto the site’s carefully landscaped gardens and unobstructed views of the mountains beyond, while plantings and natural topography provide absolute privacy from surrounding properties. Clean lines and a carefully considered material palette provide calming interior spaces for living and entertaining. Each of the five bedrooms include their own adjoining patio, and natural light fills every room of the house. Terrazzo flooring
Brad Lynch, a founding principal at architecture firm Brininstool & Lynch, was watching a horizontal ice storm out his Chicago office window when a longtime client called. The client in question was ringing to ask if Lynch would fly out to Malibu, California, “tomorrow” to see a 1955 modernist home that he was thinking of buying. Astoundingly, the architect replied, “I can’t. Maybe in a few weeks,” and hung up. Lynch then spent the next few minutes contemplating the weather outside before calling back with, “I’ll be there.”
That house, in a verdant canyon encircled by the Santa Monica Mountains, is about as opposite as it gets from any city. What’s more, it proved to be the perfect excuse to regularly escape Chicago for the next couple of years as Lynch and his team devised its complete reimagining. The architect, who began his career restoring Frank Lloyd Wright houses, reveled in the chance to remake something that truly reflected the aura of its locale. “The f