Architecture
Mediterranean-Style Home Renovation and Addition, Pacific Palisades, California, USA
Location
Pacific Palisades, California, USA
About the Project
This project is the restoration of a residential home after the January 2025 wildfire, combined with a full rework of the layout and a new lower-floor addition. The fires that swept along the Los Angeles coastline destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes, and for many families rebuilding became more than a technical task — it became a chance to rethink what home really means.
For our client, it was exactly that kind of opportunity. The house had not only to come back to life, but also to restore the feeling of the place where he grew up. That is why the Mediterranean style was not a decorative choice but a conscious emotional anchor for the whole project: white and sand-toned walls, terracotta roof tiles, arches, sunlit terraces, and the scent of lavender were meant to evoke childhood and home.
The site sits on a steep slope with panoramic ocean views — at once its greatest asset and its main challenge. The work moved in two directions: restoring what was lost while rethinking the space — reworking a main-floor layout that no longer suited the family, and adding a full lower level set into the terrain.
Planning a rebuild or renovation?
Whether you want to rethink your home, change its layout, or add a new floor, we will guide you through the entire process — from concept to permit-ready construction documents.
Design Solution
From the street, the house keeps a restrained single-story presence: a compact façade with wooden garage doors, an arched gate framed in decorative ceramic tile, and an intimate entry courtyard. The true scale of the home is revealed only from the garden side, where the building steps down the slope in a cascade.
On the main floor, we restored the street-facing part within its original footprint and forms, while reconfiguring the interior — adjusting the arrangement and proportions of the rooms to make them more comfortable to live in. The house took on an elongated structure that unfolds along the slope in several clear blocks. Near the entrance sit a guest wing with its own bedroom, family room, bathroom, and porch, along with the garage. The heart of the home is an open living room with a grand piano, an octagonal dining room opening onto the garden, and a kitchen with an island. Service spaces — pantry, laundry, bathroom, and linen storage — are gathered into a compact strip along a gallery that opens onto the terrace through a row of glazed doors.
The primary bedroom occupies a separate rounded volume at the edge of the site, with a walk-in closet, an en-suite bathroom, and ocean views. From here, a staircase leads down to the new lower floor, which did not exist before. It houses a music studio opening onto semicircular patios cut into the slope — a space for creative work, retreat, and rest overlooking the water. This lower level is designed to become the client’s workplace, closely tied to his professional activity.
The outdoor spaces carry the same idea. Terracotta-paved terraces, wrought-iron railings, dark-timber pergolas, a pool and spa, planted retaining walls, cypresses, olive trees, and lavender bring the house and garden together into one cohesive Mediterranean setting.
Key Features
Post-fire restoration and new layout
the home was rebuilt after the January 2025 fire, keeping its original street-facing forms while reorganizing the interior. an open living area and more clearly separated private rooms made the house more functional than it was before the fire.
New lower-floor addition
a new level that never existed before was added beneath the house, with a music studio and access to patio terraces. the addition uses the change in grade to turn the slope into usable space.
Mediterranean character
white and sand-toned stucco, terracotta roof tiles, arched openings, wrought-iron details, and terracotta paving create a cohesive Mediterranean look — the very one that became, for the client, a reminder of the place where he grew up.
Working with the slope
cascading terraces, retaining walls, a pool with spa, and planted levels are set into the natural slope, turning challenging terrain into the site’s greatest asset with panoramic ocean views.
Result
The finished house is more than a home restored after a fire — it is a reimagined residence that has become more spacious, more functional, and deeply personal. The new layout clearly separates the guest, family, and private zones, and the added lower floor gives the family space it never had before.
Mediterranean architecture, multi-level terraces with ocean views, and the garden create a cohesive environment with a strong sense of place. For the client, this home is not simply a rebuild but a return to childhood memories — reimagined and brought to the California coast.
The project shows how, after a loss, it is possible not only to rebuild a house but to create a space that better reflects the person, their story, and their way of life.
Planning a rebuild or renovation?
Whether you want to rethink your home, change its layout, or add a new floor, we will guide you through the entire process — from concept to permit-ready construction documents.
