Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Designer Rob Diaz Blends Old-World Material and Contemporary Style on a Southern California New Build

Designer Rob Diaz Blends Old-World Material and Contemporary Style on a Southern California New Build

The exquisite outdoor landscape features 60-year-old Manzanilla olive trees and a 4,000 pound marble fountain.

Los Angeles-based designer and builder Rob Diaz is no stranger to buying and transforming houses that are "beyond saving." In fact, he relishes embracing the unexpected and taking architectural risks that may be challenging-like installing a garden on the roof between two A-frame structures.

When Diaz purchased this property in Sherman Oaks, California, he tore down the previous structure and began work on the outdoor space before building the home itself, underlining the importance of transitional indoor and outdoor living in southern California.

"I knew I wanted to plant really large Manzanilla olive trees in the back centered on these two steel French doors, so I had those craned in and installed before we even started the house," he says. "We dug the 50-foot long pool first, planted the trees, and then built the house."

The four bedroom, five bathroom project features a unique A-frame that divides the home into two halves. On the second level, French doors lead to a quaint outdoor garden in the center of the home. Though the home is modern in shape, Diaz was inspired by old European and French architecture when selecting his building materials. Rather than using concrete or drywall, he gravitated toward the liveliness and rusticity of plaster and clay (the interior walls are all hand troweled clay from Clayworks in England).

"The whole outside of the house was laid piece by piece and it's all natural material. There's a play between France and California," he says. "There’s no concrete on the outside of the property, it’s a mix of cobblestone and limestone. I just wanted everything to be natural."

Diaz inserted unexpected creative moments throughout the house, like carving out a nook for a daybed underneath the staircase, or placing an old piece of lumber in the powder bath. "Powder bathrooms are the most fun to do because you can do anything you want," he says.



Kitchen




The warm and airy kitchen sits adjacent to the living room and is situated in the back of the property with easy access to the pool and outdoor greenery. "What is hard to do hard on a 50-foot wide house is to put the kitchen in the middle of the house,” Diaz explains.

A stunning 16-foot marble countertop lies beneath a vintage Angelo Leii large flush mount. The tile backsplash is from Cle Tile, while the stainless steel appliances are Thermador.

Living Room




Right off the kitchen, the living room offers a beautiful view of the backyard. The large glass steel doors and bright white drapery by Everhem allows natural light to fill the room. The focal point of the living area is the sleek Apparatus fireplace made of Arabescato Calacatta marble. "I left the fireplace marble to just speak for itself, I didn’t do built-ins there," Diaz says.

Beneath the staircase is a recess daybed built out of white oak. Inside the hideout, you'll find little cubbies for storage and a task light-making for a cozy reading nook. The walls are plaster from Clayworks and the contemporary wall large sconce is from Apparatus.

Primary Bedroom




It was crucial for Diaz that the primary suite was separated from the other two bedrooms and bathrooms on the top floor. To reach it, you have to walk through a glass hallway on the left side of the A-frame. The retreat has fluted walls with demi rustic clay and custom floating oak closets made of white oak. Off the suite is its own private landscaped terrace.

Primary Bathroom




In the primary bath, a single white resin tub graces the center of the room with an arrow-shaped pendant from Apparatus hovering overhead. The geometric cylinder mirrors from Bower Studios add dimension above the massive 17-foot Arabascato marble on the vanity. "We put it [the marble vanity] over the windows, and we have motorized Roman shades that drop down behind the vanity, so we had to wrap the vanity 360 degrees," Diaz explains.



Exterior




The exquisite outdoor landscape has a 50-year-old coastal live oak tree, 60-year-old Manzanilla olive trees, and Brazilian pepper trees. "We also have water fountains on the property, including a fountain in the back from Bali. We have 4,000 pound piece of marble that we had installed as a fountain in the front yard," Diaz describes. The resort-style quartz pool is a rough cut limestone block.



While it may look like concrete at first glance, the facade of the home is made of a beautiful Horizon stone, while the patio is composed of cobblestone and limestone from Eco Outdoor Natural in Beverly Hills. "We also did a gravel driveway and corrugated steel roof,” Diaz says-a decision that adds texture to the space.


Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×